


Evil Author Day 2016

by Rivermoon1970



Category: multiple - Fandom
Genre: Characters in Each Chapter, Other, Tags In Each Chapter, warnings in each chapter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-20 02:32:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 30,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5989057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivermoon1970/pseuds/Rivermoon1970
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Please see each chapter for warnings, tags, fandoms, relationships etc.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Jar Of Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Title** : A Jar of Hearts  
>  **Fandom** : Criminal Minds, Agents of Shield  
>  **Year** : 2013  
>  **Tags** : Adultry, Inhuman!Aaron, Relapse, Implied Drug Use, Slash, Forgiveness  
>  **Ratings** :  
>  **Pairings** : Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid  
>  **Characters** : Aaron Hotchner, Spencer Reid, Jack Hotchner, Daisy Johnson, Phil Coulson, Bobby, Fitz, Gemma Simmons,  
>  **Summary** : Aaron had asked Spencer to marry him. The genius said yes and Aaron was the happiest man on earth, that was until he found out that Spencer was cheating on him. It broke Aaron so badly he disappeared back into his old job. A SHIELD agent. What he doesn’t know is the vitamin supplements he’s been taking have a side affect. He goes into terragenesis and is transformed. Two years later on a routine mission in Las Vegas to find an inhuman he stumbles on Spencer, who has overdosed. Can he save the man that still has his heart? And will he be able to forgive Spencer for what happened?  
>  **Words** : 1254  
>  **Warnings** : Graphic Depictions of Violence, Graphic Drug Withdrawal  
>  **Beta** : None

Aaron was lying flat on his back on the bed in an out of the way hotel room trying to figure out what the hell to do from here. He knew he was running but it was all just too much. The pain when he found out Reid was cheating on him was overwhelming and he just had to get away. He was trying to make plans but he couldn’t see past the next hour, the next minutes, hell even the next seconds. Every tick of the clock was a painful reminder that time was ticking away and he was here without the family he thought he was building. He wondered if Reid was with _him._ Whenever he pictured it in his mind he got angry and his heart broke just a little more.

Aaron took a drink from the glass in his hand and sighed. He lost count of just how many glasses he had actually consumed. He was trying his hardest to drown out the pain and it just wasn’t working. What made all of this worse was Jack. His son, whom he loved more than life itself, had become so attached to Reid that he had been pushed aside. Left out in favor of the newer, funner model. Storytime was now Reid. Homework help, Reid. Going to the park, the zoo, museums Jack wanted Reid. He’d been replaced and it was killing him.

When he heard the knock on the door it startled him. Stumbling towards the door he flung it open and when he saw Reid standing there his anger flared within and he slammed the door in his face. Of course Reid wouldn’t leave it alone, he knocked again. Flinging the door open he turned his back and stalked back to the bed, refreshed his scotch and laid back down ignoring the man who stepped inside.

“How did you find me?” Aaron glared at the young man as he stood there with his head bowed, hands twisting in front of him.

“I asked Garcia to track your phone.” Aaron wasn’t surprised at that and knew what he was going to do once Reid left.

“Say what the fuck you want to say then get the hell out and leave me alone.”

“Aaron, I…”

“No.” Aaron yelled as he sat up on the bed. “You don’t get to call me that anymore, you lost that right. It’s Hotch to you. Now what the hell do you want Reid?”

Spencer stood there looking at him with a devastated look which Aaron thought he had no right to. He saw the pain and the hurt on Spencer’s face and thought _Good, maybe he’ll get just an inkling of what I feel._

“Hotch, please come home. Let’s talk about this.” Reid was scratching at this elbow and Aaron couldn’t find it in his heart to care.

“Why the fuck would I want to?” He lifted his glass and took a drink.

“At least come home for Jack. I know you’re angry with me and you have every right to be, but don’t punish your son Hotch.”

“Is he my son anymore?” The venom in Aaron’s voice had Reid stumbling back.

“Of course he is Aa…Hotch. You love Jack. You would never abandon him.”

“Well, you sure helped him abandon me didn’t you?”

“Wha-what are you talking about?” When Aaron saw the confused look on Reid’s face he laughed, but it was a harsh almost cruel laugh.

“Bedtime stories he wants you. Homework help, he wants you. Parks, museums, movies and any outings at all he wants you. When I tried to talk to you about it you told me that I was just jealous. When I intervened to try to take control of the situation you got angry. So yeah, Reid, I was fucking jealous. He was my son and you took him.” Aaron was yelling so loud it was making Reid shake. Getting up off the bed he rummaged in his briefcase and threw some papers at the younger man. “You want to be a parent? Here, I’m giving you custody. You and Jessica.”

Reid picked up the papers with shaking hands and a horrified expression on his face.

“Hotch you, you can’t do this.”

“I can and I have.”

“You can’t abandon your son.” Reid yelled at him.

“I’m not abandoning him. I’ll write, e-mail, and call but right now I need to not be home. I need to not be around _you_.”

“Hotch, please. You can’t know how sorry I am.”

Aaron turned and levelled a stare at Reid. He started to shore up the pain in his heart while he stared at his former fiancé.

“Sorry? You’re sorry? You have no idea what you’ve done to me. I gave you everything Spencer. I was there for you when others weren’t, when Gideon left I was there to pick up the goddamn pieces. After Haley I was broken and you helped piece me back together. You told me you loved me and you know I don’t trust easily in relationships. You know Haley had an affair then you go and do the same thing? When I asked you to marry me, when you said yes,” Aaron choked on his emotions that welled up closing off his throat. “I was ecstatic. I came out for you Reid. You coaxed me out, helped me put the ghosts of my father behind me. You made me proud to be with you. I loved your quirks, and your mind. I loved that you wanted to be a parent to Jack, I loved the quiet times and I loved how excited you’d get over the small things. I held you through nightmares and reminders of Georgia. I was there when you almost relapsed and held you up. I gave you all of me and what do you do? You stomp all over that.”

Reid’s face was stained with tears as he flinched with every one of Aaron’s words.

“I was scared Aaron. It was huge, this thing between us, it’s everything I ever wanted and I got scared and I, I thought you’d get bored with me after a while, that you’d leave me.”

“So you fucking talk to me. You don’t go and have a goddamned affair. And for months Reid, what were you thinking?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t thinking.” Reid yelled back.

“I’m not waiting of for you to decide.” Aaron took off the ring that he and Reid had picked out together one afternoon just after Aaron popped the question. He grabbed Reid’s hand and placed the ring on it. “Goodbye Reid.” Aaron held open the hotel door signaling for Reid to leave.

“Get out and don’t try to call me.” He reached in his pocket and pressed his credentials into Reid’s hand and glared at him.

“Hotch,” Aaron heard the emotion catch in Reid’s voice but tuned it out. “You can’t mean this.”

“I do. Goodbye Reid.” Aaron waited till the young agent was out the door before he slammed it behind him locking it with a certain finality that left him shaking. He stumbled towards the bed and slowly sank to the floor leaning against it letting the tears he was holding back fall. He covered his face with his hand and finally let himself break.

What he didn’t see was Reid standing at the window crying as he laid a hand on the cool pane watching the man he loved, the one he hurt so deeply fall apart.


	2. After The Trial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Title** : After The Trial (Working Title)  
>  **Fandom** : Criminal Minds, X-Men  
>  **Year** : 2007  
>  **Tags** : Threesome, M/M/M, Slash, PTSD, Mutant!Hotch, Mutant!Spencer, Implied MPreg  
>  **Ratings** : PG-13, will be NC17  
>  **Pairings** : Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid, Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid/Remy Lebeau  
>  **Characters** : Aaron Hotchner, Spencer Reid, Jack Hotchner, Remy LeBeau, Derek Morgan, Penelope Garcia, JJ Jareau, David Rossi, Jean Grey, Scott Summers, James “Logan” Howlett, Bella Donna  
>  **Spoilers** :  
>  **Summary** : Remy needed a place after the events in Antarctica. Spencer was the one person he thought he could count on and when he said yes he was more than happy. He knew Spencer had married and though it broke his heart he was happy for his former lover. What he didn’t expect was to fall for the man. Now, Spencer had been kidnapped, and Aaron was in the hospital and Remy’s world was shattering once again. semblance of happiness back in his life.  
>  **Words** : 1560  
>  **Warnings** : None at this time. Eventual Graphic Depictions of Violence, Torture  
>  **Beta** : None

 

“So who is this friend that’s coming over?” Aaron asked as he finished fixing dinner for him, Jack and Spencer.

“We sort of grew-up together. His name is Remy,” Spencer was nervous because he hadn’t told Aaron anything about Remy, but now the man needed somewhere to go, somewhere to heal. He had called Spencer after The Trial ended and Spencer could tell in his voice that something bad had happened, but he didn’t push. The offer to stay at his and Aaron’s house was out of his mouth before he could think, and now he had to face the minor consequences of his actions.

“You’ve never talked about him,” Aaron sat down and lit the candles on the table with his fingers.

“It’s complicated.” Spencer blew out a breath wondering how he was going to explain what Remy had once meant to him and the fight they had when Spencer decided to join the FBI.

Aaron looked for a long-time at Spencer, “Spence, was there something more between you?” Aaron turned to cut up the meat on their son’s plate.

Spencer swallowed hard, “Yes,” He looked over at Aaron worried that he would no longer want Remy to come.

“It’s okay Spencer, I’m not going to change my mind. I’d like to meet this person from your past.” Aaron leaned over and kissed Spencer letting him know it was okay.

“Thank you Aaron, this means a lot to me.” He reached over and brushed back Jack’s hair, smiling at the boy he still couldn’t believe was his and Aaron’s. “There is something else you should know. He’s ah, he’s part of the X-Men,” Spencer swallowed and waited for his husband’s reaction.

“Okay,” Aaron stilled and processed this information, “So, he’s a mutant.” Aaron looked at Spencer for a moment longer before he went back to eating.

“Yes. And I know the FBI’s position on the X-Men but Aaron-” The older man put a finger on Spencer’s mouth hoping to shut his husband up before he went on one of his famous tangents.

“Its alright Spencer. I don’t necessarily agree with the Bureau’s position, you know that. And not just for obvious reasons.” His red eyes were dancing with fire and the look he was giving Spencer sent a thrill down his spine. “We need to have mutants in the Bureau and I’ve been working on something, so I hope to hear about it in the next few weeks.”

“Yeah, if they only knew,” Spencer teased. His own silver and ice blue eyes stared back. How two mutants had fooled the Bureau, married and had a son Spencer would always wonder about. “Wait, what?” Spencer hadn’t quite registered what Aaron had told him at first.

Aaron laughed a full-throated laugh and it washed over Spencer letting himself feel it right down to his soul. The fact that they were opposites from each other, Aaron was all fire and passion, Spencer was water and calm and yet somehow they worked.

“Sometimes I wonder if you’re paying attention.” Aaron shook his head, “I’ve been working with Dr. Henry McCoy on trying to convince the Bureau to let a select few mutants into the Bureau. Try them out in the BAU at first. You know that anyone who is there has been thoroughly screened for prejudices. This will be a true test of that screening.” He looked at Spencer for a long moment, “It would also mean we would no longer have to hide.” All humor left Aaron’s face as he reached across and took Spencer’s hand. “We can be ourselves, would you be prepared for that?”

“You mean,” His breath was shallow at the thought of possibly being able to be himself fully and completely around his friends and in his job. “No more hair dying, no more using the ring, no more contacts-” He was almost hyper-ventilating at the thought.

“For either of us,” It was something the both of them had dreamed of.

“Wait, Hank McCoy? Aaron,” Spencer narrowed his eyes at his husband, “What have you been keeping from me?” Spencer put his fork down and sat back in his chair.

“Not keeping Spencer, Hank is my advisor for my dissertation,” He smiled wide at the man across from him, “My Ph.D candidacy was accepted. The paper I was working on comparing the mutant unsubs to humans was actually my dissertation. When I was posting it on the blog I had set-up I was contacted by Henry. He still has contacts at many Universities and was able to find a psychology program that would work around our schedules. I didn’t want to tell you till I was sure.”

“Aaron!” Spencer jumped out of his seat and flew at the other man, “That’s wonderful, congratulations.” He kissed the older man softly but no less passionately than any other time. “I’m proud of you.” He said against his husbands lips. Spencer pulled back after a moment, “That means you know he’s also-”

“Part of the X-Men, yes I know, he was completely honest with me in the first e-mail he sent me. After some video conferencing with Professor Xavier and my many assurances that none of my research would be used against any mutant they let me have access to their files. This also means they know what I am as well.” Aaron wrapped his arms around his husband’s waist and leaned against his chest. “You’re not mad I didn’t tell you?”

“No. We both do independent research and publish papers Aaron, you know I’d never be upset over something like this. So, are you going to make Dave call you Dr. Hotchner?” Spencer teased.

Just as Aaron was about to retaliate, there was a knock on the door.

“That must be him.” Spencer jumped off Aaron’s lap and ran to the door. When he opened it his heart stopped. When he looked into that face that he knew so well and yet hadn’t seen in such a long time he was left speechless.

“Well, dis is a day fo’ dem his’try books ya love so much, non? Dr. Spencer Reid, speechless.” Then Remy LeBeau smiled and Spencer’s eyes widened at how much he missed that warm, inviting smile. “Ar’n’t ya’ gonna ask me in cher?” Remy stood there with a bag in his hand still on the porch.

“Come in Mr. LeBeau.” Aaron had moved up next to Spencer’s side and this time it was Remy that was caught.

“Well, Spencer, ya’ didn’ tell ole Remy jus’ what a handsome _diable_ you got yo’self.” Remy was unashamed at just how much he was flirting with the dark-haired man.

“Oh, um Remy, this is Aaron Reid-Hotchner, my ah my husband and boss.” Spencer stammered out.

“Very nice ta’ meet ya’ Aaron,” The unit chief quirked up a brow at the way Remy said his name. It was almost like a shot of warm whiskey that went straight to his soul. Aaron in that moment unleashed the full Hotchner smile back at the flirtatious man.

“And it is very nice to meet you Mr. LeBeau,” Aaron held out his hand for the Cajun to take and when they shook both men couldn’t deny the little spark that moved between them. “And welcome to our home.” Aaron moved aside to let the man in.

“Daddy,” A little voice could be heard from the dining room.

“Be right there Jack.” Aaron called out.

“Mr. LeBeau-” Aaron started.

“Please call me Remy. Mr. LeBeau is my Papa,” Remy moved into the house and put his bag down.

“If you’re hungry we have plenty,” Aaron showed him into the dining room.

“Aw, Spencer ‘nother ting you didn’ tell Remy about. Who is de _l’enfant_?” Remy sat at the table while Aaron plated him some food

“Oh, this is Jack,” Spencer smiled wide, “Our son.”

“Well nice ta’ meet ya Jack.” Remy watched Spencer interact with the child and smiled. He thought about how much changed in the years between and was somewhere between regret for letting go and happiness that Spencer found a family.

“You talk funny just like Henry’s daddy,” Jack looked wide-eyed at the newcomer.

“Jack, that is very rude,” Spencer admonished.

“It’s okay Spencer. Is Henri’s daddy from New O’leans?” Remy had bent down so he was eye level with Jack.

“I don’t know, Papa?” Jack scrunched up his face like he was thinking. Spencer laughed and ruffled Jack’s hair.

“Yes Jack, Will is from New Orleans, remember when he made that big pot of gumbo and the little crawfish scared you?” Spencer fluffed his hair again, “Okay eat you little munchkin.”

The banter went on between the family and Remy sat back and watched. He normally wasn’t a silent man but he was interested in this new side of Spencer so he watched and a part of him ached because he realized in that moment what he had given up and what Spencer had found.

After dinner Spencer and Jack settled on the couch reading.  Aaron kissed them both before heading to his office.

Remy didn’t want to disturb the boy and Spencer, but his curiosity got the better of him. He followed Aaron into the office.

“So, tell me how de two of you met,” Remy wasn’t subtle when he sat down in the chair across from the darker haired man.


	3. After The War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Title** : After The War  
>  **Fandom** : Harry Potter  
>  **Year** : 1998  
>  **Tags** : PTSD, Slight Canon-Divergent, Ginny Bashing, nightmares, Pre-Slash, Slash  
>  **Ratings** : PG-13, will be NC17  
>  **Pairings** : Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy  
>  **Characters** : Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy  
>  **Spoilers** :  
>  **Summary** : Harry wanted to run. It was all over and he just wanted to run. He was tired of being everyone else’s tool, their savior. He wanted to run and hide and the only person he knew that would honor that wish was Draco. When the menace and his rival agreed to get him out of a ruined Hogwarts Harry didn’t try to analyze the why, he just wanted some peace and if Draco was the one to give it to him, why argue?  
>  **Words** : 584  
>  **Warnings** : Canon Character deaths  
>  **Beta** : None

 

Draco watched as an exhausted Harry dropped to the ground Tom Riddle dead once and for all. He ran to Harry and dropped next to him taking the devastated, exhausted boy, no man, in his arms. Harry looked up at Draco confused. Yes they had a tumultuous relationship throughout school but in the end Draco refused the mark and rebelled against his father. His mother had been hurt one too many times and Draco didn’t have any remorse that his father was now dead. Draco realized when his father had Harry hostage that what was happening was wrong, what he had done was wrong.

“What do you need Harry?” Draco pulled back and made Harry look at him.

“Get me out of here Dragon?” Harry looked at him with dark haunted eyes and in that moment Draco’s heart broke. He knew he had made so many mistakes with Harry that all he wanted to do now was protect him. He nodded his head and held onto Harry’s hand and appartated from the battlefield that was once the great and mighty Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizadry. He ignored the shouts of teachers, friends and other student’s calling after them, all he was concerned with was getting Harry Potter out of there. The young man had given too much of himself already. Draco was not going to let him give anymore, at least not yet, not until Harry healed, if he even could.

They appeared outside a modest sized cottage and Draco led Harry inside. Prodding him into the bathroom he helped the young man to undress and got him into a shower. He set out healing potions that he had often made for his mother. Standing in the small kitchen Draco leaned against the counter and wondered what the hell he was doing.

Harry stood under the water for an impossibly long time. When Draco came to check on him he saw Harry just standing in the middle of the bathroom looking utterly young and lost.

“Come on Harry, I think you need sleep you’re exhausted and I can’t tell but I can guess you’re magical core is near depleted,” Draco used a drying charm on him then spelled some pajamas on him and led him to the bedroom. Harry slowly got in the bed and sighed. He was so exhausted a part of him didn’t want to move for a week.

“Here, drink this. It’ll help heal your cuts and bruises.” Without too much prodding, which should have alerted Draco right away to Harry’s state of mind that he was taking something from someone that he didn’t even like.

Sleep Harry,” Draco started to walk away when Harry reached out and grabbed his hand.

“Don’t leave,” Harry looked up at him and saw the raw emotion and need.

He wasn’t sure why he did it but Draco nodded and changed into pajamas and, slid in behind Harry as he wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close.  As soon as he did he felt all the tension in Harry drain out of him, the potion and sleeping draught both working to relax The-Boy-Who-Lived even more. Draco held Harry and wondered what the hell he was doing, when the boy started to cry he held him even closer. It was several long minutes before Harry finally cried himself out and started to fall asleep. He didn’t know how but he knew in that moment that he wanted to protect Harry, even from himself.


	4. Bars Are Not Just for Drinking Anymore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Title** : Bars Are Not Just for Drinking Anymore  
>  **Fandom** : Criminal Minds  
>  **Year** : 2006  
>  **Tags** : Alternate Universe, Grief, Loss, Pre-Slash, Slash, Romance, Love,  
>  **Ratings** : will be NC17  
>  **Pairings** : Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid  
>  **Characters** : Aaron Hotchner, Spencer Reid, David Rossi, Emily Prentiss, Derek Morgan, JJ Jareau, Jack Hotchner, Sean Hotchner  
>  **Spoilers** :  
>  **Summary** : Aaron had been out of the country for the last two months grieving the loss of his long-time partner Carson Malloy. When he got back to his Bar, the one he had built-up with Carson, he sees a new piano player. While he was still in the grief process, he wasn’t immune to his attraction to the new player and he wanted to learn more about the beautiful young man, not expecting to fall in love.  
>  **Words** : 1391  
>  **Warnings** : Off-screen non-canon character death  
>  **Beta** : None

 

Aaron walked into his bar but felt there was something different that night. He looked over and saw the young man at the piano playing softly. Raising a brow, he watched the new player for a while, intrigued by him. He was attractive with long soft curly brown hair pushed behind his ears, a black suit, nice button down shirt open at the top with a tie hanging loosely around his neck. The look on anyone else would be sloppy but on him, it was downright sexy. Aaron could tell that he was holding back in his playing, that the young man was better than what he was currently plucking out on the piano.

                After sitting back, sipping his scotch and listening for a while Aaron got a wicked gleam in his eye as he stood and sauntered over to the piano and the player. He put a hundred-dollar bill in the jar and leaned against the piano watching those long fingers plucking away at a song.

                “Should I even ask what I have to do for that?” The young man raised a brow as he watched the older man.

                “Hmm, well can you play Philip Glass’s _Metamorphosis_?” Aaron smirked, thinking he had one over on the young man.

                “I didn’t peg you for an abstract minimalist kind of person.” The player finally looked up at him and took in a sharp breath. Aaron waited and was pleasantly surprised when the player rose to his challenge.

                “Touché.” Aaron smiled as he walked back to his table. The player didn’t quite know what to make of the older man who had been, what? Flirting? When he looked back up his hopes fell when the pretty bar manager sat at the older man’s table and was talking, laughing and touching him. _Oh well, too bad_ he thought as he played the song _Congratulations_ from Blue October.

                Aaron’s head shot up as he looked towards the player and wondered why he chose that particular song.

                “I think he thinks we’re a couple. Has no clue you’re as gay as they come,” The dark haired woman teased.

                “Emily, I do not flaunt my sexuality, not like Carson did.” Aaron’s face betrayed his emotions at the mention of the partner he recently lost.

                “Aaron, I never got a chance to say how sorry I am. He loved you and Jack more than anything.” Aaron closed his eyes and fought back his emotions. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean… “Aaron placed a hand over hers and smiled.

                “Don’t ever think you can’t talk about Carson. He loved all of you guys. It’s just going to take time Em.” He smiled sadly as he fought back the grief he had tried so hard to control over the last few weeks.

                The player was watching the interaction between the older man and Miss Prentiss and saw the look of sadness come over his face and wondered. He decided to play something happier to hopefully lift the man’s spirits. Taking time to think about he looked down at the keys and smiled to himself when it hit him, the perfect song. He started playing _Walking on Sunshine_ by Katrina and the Waves. When he looked up and saw the wide smile from the dark-haired man the player’s breath caught in his throat. That dimple showing smile was definitely very, very deadly.

                “So, Emily what happed to James?” Aaron indicated with his head the new piano player.

                “I’m sorry didn’t have time to tell you. I had to let him go, he was skimming his tips and stiffing the waitresses when he was served drinks. He also talked Talia into giving him alcohol. So, I put in a quick ad and this young man showed up. Plays like a fucking dream. House has been packed every Friday and Saturday since hiring him. Name’s Spencer Reid.” She saw her boss watching Spencer and would notice every once-in-a-while Spencer looking up and watching her boss. Emily smirked to herself and thought that maybe, just maybe this young man was going to be good for Hotch she’d just have to wait and see.

                Emily kept an eye on the entrance to the bar and smiled when a familiar face walked in.

                “Rossi’s here. I swear that man has a sixth sense when it comes to you or something,” She got up, kissed Hotch’s cheek and he watched as she went to check on the bartenders.

                “Aaron.” Rossi smiled warmly at his friend.

                “Dave, how are you?” Aaron was grabbed into a tight hug, then each cheek was kissed before the Italian man sat down in the booth next to his friend.

                “I’m good. Kitten keeps me on my toes you know.” Dave smiled as he thought about his fiancé. “How are you Aaron?” Dave reached out and squeezed his best friends hand with his.

                “I’m dealing. He was so sick for so long.” Aaron frowned as he tried to hold back the grief that welled up inside him. ”Its Jack I’m more worried about. Carson was a father and mother to him. They had such a special bond.”

                “Well, the Italian coast looks like it did you some good. How did you like it?” Dave smiled at the waitress that brought him his scotch, then he tipped her generously knowing she would take good care of him while he was there.

                “It was beautiful. Great food and I found some great local beers, wines and a few hard to find alcohols. I should get the shipment in within a couple of days. I’ll see what JJ can come up with for our premium cocktails.  Also found an amazing small batch gourmet food store. I’m going to have Emily keep in contact with them. Some of the best mozzarella, fresh pasta and amazing salami that I’ve ever had. But the olives, Jack couldn’t get enough. I’ll have Sean play with those ingredients. Maybe do a nice tasting menu one night.” Aaron smiled as he thought about the possibilities.

Aaron had cultivated an upscale atmosphere but the bar was never uninviting. All were welcome at The Cask and Barrel. It was richly decorated with hand stained wood for the walls. The artwork was revolving as new talented artists were found and Aaron liked to showcase a new talent every six months, preferring photography, but if a particular painter or ceramist caught his eye they would be invited to showcase as well. They sold the art for a portion of the profits, and it was much lower than most galleries offered young, new talent. He only asked fifteen percent and most up and coming artists were grateful for his generosity. The atmosphere was beautiful, inviting and understated. The bar was a combination of both his and Carson’s aesthetics.

“So, where is my hostess anyway?” Aaron raised a brow at his oldest friend.

“She is deep into wedding plans back home.” A soft smile crossed the older man’s face.

“You’re really making her wife number four?” Aaron smiles broadly, teasing Dave.

“She’s it for me Aaron. I promise to be good to her.” He knew Aaron has a soft protective spot for Penelope Garcia.

“You better be Dave.” Aaron gave him a playful glare. The two men continue talking for a while then Aaron excuses himself, grabbing his things he heads to the back of the bar.

Spencer carefully watches him, his eyes never leaving the retreating form. He then begins to wonder just how the man was involved with the business.

Several hours later the bar starts to close-up and Aaron comes out of the back office with a file in his hand. Approaching Spencer, who was counting out his tips, he smiles at the younger man.

“Spencer, Emily tells me you are settling in quite well here. Why don’t we go back to my office and talk?”

“Okay,” Spencer looks up slightly confused, but follows the older man anyway. When they get to the large office several things immediately click in the young man’s mind. “You’re the owner, aren’t you?” Spencer stands part way in the door.

“Yes I am, come in, I’m not going to bite,” Aaron swallowed hard, he hadn’t meant that the way it had sounded but he liked the look on Spencer’s face so he decided he wasn’t going to take it back.


	5. Broken Bonds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Title** : Broken Bonds  
>  **Fandom** : Criminal Minds, Stargate  
>  **Year** :  
>  **Tags** : Canon-divergent, Alternate Universe, Tokra!Aaron, Tokra!Spencer, Bonded Mates, Grief, Slash, Tokra!Daniel, depression,  
>  **Ratings** : NC17  
>  **Pairings** : Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid, Aaron Hotchner/Daniel Jackson  
>  **Characters** : Aaron Hotchner, Spencer Reid, Daniel Jackson, Samantha Carter, Teal’c, Jack O’Neill.  
>  **Spoilers** :  
>  **Summary** : Aaron and Spencer are running from the Jaffa of a previously thought to be dead system lord. When Spencer is shot in the back, Aaron doesn’t know what to do. In that moment strangers come through the Chappa’ai and help him back to their world. Spencer is dying as is his symbiote. Daniel agrees to become the host but he isn’t prepared for just what that means.  
>  **Words** : 2826  
>  **Warnings** : Major Character Death  
>  **Beta** : None

 

“Spencer, run,” Aaron was trying to pull his mate along as they were being fired upon by a group of Jaffa. They had almost made it to the gate when Spencer was hit in the back by a staff weapon. Just as Aaron reached the dialing device for the Chappa’ai a wormhole opened. Grabbing Spencer in his arms he ran as quickly as he could and hid behind a large rock. The Jaffa kept coming and he had no more weapons, having lost them all in their flight.

                When the men and one woman came through and immediately started to attack the Jaffa that were firing on him and Spencer he slowly peeked out from behind the rock. He thought he should know these people but he couldn’t be sure.

                “Tau’ri, Karesh,” Torrin spoke to him in low tones, “Trust them,” The man fainted in his arms and Aaron was trying to revive him.

                “Come on Spencer, come on. You can’t, you can’t leave me. Torrin, Torrin where are you,” Aaron was trying to revive him when the blond woman rushed over to check on them. Touching Aaron’s arm she looked at him with worried eyes.

                “You’re Tok’ra, right?”

                Karesh took over as he studied the woman a moment, “Yes, I am Karesh, please, please help us,” He can’t help the tears that start to form.  He could tell that Spencer, the man he’s been bonded to for over 300 years, was dying.

                “Okay, but you need to stay here,” She squeezed his arm once before running after the other men.

                “She, was blended,” Spencer’s eyes fluttered open when Aaron slumped back against the rock, holding his love in his arms.

                “Yes, she was,” Aaron had felt it as well, he knew there was a story there but he didn’t care about it at the moment, all he cared about was getting someplace safe, someplace to help Spencer.

                “You’ll be okay, you’ll be fine,” Aaron kept the litany up hoping that it would be true.

                Torrin looked up at him with pain and sadness in his eyes, “No my love, we are not alright. If I don’t-“

                “No, no we’ll find you a host, I promise, please, I can’t, can’t lose you both please hang on,” Aaron clutched the younger man to his chest, holding him close and rocking him.

                In all that time he heard the sounds of battle but he just couldn’t bring himself to care. His heart was slowly dying in his chest as his beloved was dying in his arms. He was startled when the blonde woman came back and laid a gentle hand on his arm.

                “He needs medical attention, we can help,” Her heart was breaking at the scene before her.

                “Please, can you save them?” Aaron implored her with his eyes.

                “We’ll do our best but we have to go now,” Aaron nodded as he stood up with Spencer clutched tightly to him. One of the men was quickly dialing up the Chappa’ai and having no choice he followed the group of four through the gate.

                Once on the other side there were, what looked to him to be medical personnel and another woman who seemed to be directing everyone. He was told to put Spencer on the gurney, and reluctantly he let him go. He started to follow after but the gray-haired man from the team stopped him.

                “We’ll do all we can but you need to tell us what happened back there,” Aaron was too distraught to talk and when he looked back up Karesh had taken over.

                “I am Karesh, I apologize for Aaron he is not doing well at the moment. Neither am I but I will answer your questions the best I can.”

                “I’m Colonel Jack O’Neill, this is Major Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Teal’c. Come on,” Jack motioned for Karesh to follow and a short-time later he found himself in a room with a table and several chairs.

                “I am sorry you became involved in our fight. My partner can be rather,” He smiled sadly as he tried to keep his emotions in check, “Enthusiastic. Especially when it comes to history and ruins.”

                “So, he’s an archeologist?” Daniel asked the enthusiasm on his face reminded Karesh of Spencer too much and he closed his eyes trying to hold on.

                “If you mean he likes to dig around in old and ancient ruins then yes. He touched something in the temple of Tiamat, a system lord we assumed to be quite long gone and dead. Obviously that wasn’t the case. Those were her Jaffa you were fighting.” He tried to keep his hands still but they were shaking badly as he tried to keep his emotions under control.

                “Please can you tell me what’s happening, I just need to know,” His heart sped up and he had the urge to get up and pace.

                “Of course, give me just a moment,” Sam went over to the phone in the room and called down to the infirmary. After a minute she hung up and turned towards Aaron.

                “I’m sorry I think you need to get down there,” Aaron’s eyes widen with fear and pain. “I’ll take you,” Her voice was quiet and he heard the sadness in her voice which scared him. She quickly led the way to the small built in hospital.

                As soon as Aaron entered the infirmary his heart stopped in his chest seeing the man he loves on the bed hooked up to more machines than he’d seen in years.

                “Spencer,” Aaron fell into the chair next to the bed and took the younger man’s hand in his Spencer turned to him with a sad smile on his face.

                “Aaron, don’t be angry, this was my fault,” Pain spiked through his body as he held his lover’s hand, “It’s bad Aaron-“

                “No, no don’t, please don’t I can’t lose you, either of you,” Spencer laid a hand on Aaron’s cheek and smiled softly.

                “You know Torrin has no possibility of a host here, Aaron you and Karesh,” Spencer closed his eyes against the pain spike but continued what he wanted to say, “You need to face this, both of you. I love you, we love you Aaron.”

                “Don’t you dare do this to me. Don’t you die Spencer, don’t you-“ Aaron laid his head on Spencer’s chest and couldn’t help it, the emotional toll was too much and the sobs that come out of the man broke everyone’s heart.

                “Aaron,” Spencer’s strength was waning but he lifted a hand and carded it through his love’s hair trying to soothe him. “Please, don’t. Karesh, help him,” Spencer’s eyes were wide as his own tears spilled silently.

                “How can I help him, when I feel just as he does. We promised forever my love, we promised forever,” Aaron caressed Spencer’s cheek as he leaned in and kissing him.

                “Sir, we have to do something. I can’t, I can’t watch this,” Sam was shaken up watching the two men, the few memories she had of Jolinar rushed through her mind.

                “And what do you suggest we do, hun Captain?” Jack was frowning deeply, not quite as unaffected as he outwardly appeared to be.

                “We promised the Tok’ra hosts. We may not be able to save Spencer, but dammit can’t we do something for the symbiote?”

                “I don’t think there’s time Carter,” Jack couldn’t help watching as his heart broke but he’d never actually admit it.

                Daniel was sitting off to the side contemplating. He didn’t know a lot about the young man but what he heard he felt a kind of kinship. He never in a million years would have contemplated the course of action that was going through his mind and it wasn’t like they couldn’t find a better host later, but he knew he couldn’t let an innocent die. Not like this and not in this heartbreaking manner.

                “I’ll do it,” He was surprised to hear himself say.

                “Daniel, I can’t let you do this,” Jack stared at him wondering what was going through his best friends mind.

                “It’s my choice Jack. I can’t in all good conscience let them both die, it’s not right. And it could only be till they find a better host,” Daniel looked towards the bed and thought of Sharae and how devastated he was when she was taken from him.

                “Daniel, I am not letting you do this,” Jack hissed under his breath as he stood next to the archeologist.

                “I’m sorry Jack, but you can’t really stop me. I mean you could, you could lock me in some room and not let me out but come on, look at them Jack. How can you not be affected by them,” Daniel pushed up on his glasses and frowned at the Colonel.

                “Fine, but then we find a suitable host as soon as we can, that’s an order.” Daniel tried to keep the tiny smile off his face as he nodded his head then walked over to the bed.

                “I’m sorry I wish there was more we could do but I can at least help you save Torrin,” Daniel looked to the two men who hadn’t let go of each other since they walked into the infirmary.

                Aaron surged out of the chair and engulfed the man in his arms, “Thank you, thank you.”

                “It’s the least I could do. The Tok’ra have been very good to us I figure it’s time we pay a little back,” Daniel gave them a smile as he sat in the other chair.

                “You do not know how grateful Spencer feels,” Torrin looked over at Aaron for a moment, “Let me talk to him a moment love,” Aaron was reluctant to let him go but he nodded his head and walked away giving them some privacy. “He is not going to take my hosts death very well Daniel Jackson. You must understand they were together for almost a hundred years before they let Karesh and myself inside them. With us, it’s been over three hundred years. Once I leave my host, Spencer will die.”

                “Wow, um I’ve only met a handful of societies that have lived that long. Do you know how?”

                “That is something you can ask about after. Now though, I think you should speak with Spencer,” Torrin left and the young man smiled softly.

                “Torrin is right. Aaron,” Spencer’s eyes cloud in pain as the monitors start to all go wild. Dr. Frazier quickly ran over, doing what she could for him before patting Spencer on the arm to give them some privacy, “Aaron is not going to take this well. Promise me you will help him Daniel,” Spencer grabbed Daniel’s hand tightly, “After,” Spencer took a deep breath against the pain before continuing, “After this is done you have to go back to the planet. We left,” Spencer’s eyes rolled back in his head as he body stiffened.

                “Daniel,” Dr. Frazier immediately went to work on Spencer while Aaron paced miserably just outside the infirmary. No one knew how to help him or what to do for him. A few minutes later the doctor was coming out to the hall where Aaron was. She placed a hand on his arm stopping him in mid-stride, “I’m sorry, he doesn’t have much time. If you’re going to do this, it has to be now.”

                The SG team would never in their lives forget the sound that came out of Aaron’s throat as the full reality of the situation hit him. He buckled and if it hadn’t been for Jack and Daniel rushing to him, he would have hit his head on the floor.

                “Janet, do you have a larger bed for them to use?” Sam had pulled the Doctor aside.

                “Yes, yes we can get something together,” Dr. Frazier ran back in and directing her nurses they made a makeshift bed and transferred Spencer over to it.

                Jack was holding Aaron up as he walked over and immediately the Tok’ra wrapped himself around Spencer, not wanting to let him go.

                “What do you want me to do?” Daniel frowned slightly as he watched the older man trying to soothe his partner.

                Spencer opened his eyes and held out his hand for Daniel. “Come and lie down here.” He directed him to the spot on the other side of him. With Aaron’s help Spencer rolled onto his side and He and Daniel were laying face to face.

                “Torrin will leave my body and enter yours,” Spencer’s voice was barely above a whisper but it was enough for Daniel to hear. “Once he leaves,” Spencer couldn’t say more, his eyes clouded in pain. Holding tightly to Aaron’s arm that was around his waist, Torrin slipped out of Spencer’s body and quickly moved to Daniel.  

                The archeologist opened his mouth and the symbiote tried to make his entry as painless as possible. As soon as he slithered inside he looked up and his heart broke. Spencer was gone.

                “No, no, no, no,” Aaron keened over and over as the held Spencer’s body close to him. He cried out in pain as the physical bond he had shared with the younger man snapped.

                “Aaron,” Torrin called out as he reached for the darker haired man, “I’m still here my love.”

                Aaron couldn’t bear it, the emotional and physical pain was too much as he held the body he was wrapped around tighter to him. When Dr. Frazier tried to take Spencer Aaron just cried harder, held on tighter. After too much time had passed she had no choice but the give him a tranquilizer.

                Daniel was furiously pacing back and forth as he tried to process the feeling the symbiote was giving off. Torrin was in pain and it was breaking Daniel’s heart feeling all those emotions all at once.

                Sam and Jack had been watching the whole time trying to understand just what had happened. When he finally got himself under control and was able to speak he stood in front of Daniel stopping him.

                “Daniel, mind telling us what exactly just happened?”

                “I, I don’t understand everything yet, but I’ll try to explain, but not here, I, I can’t be in here anymore. Torrin is in distress and wants out of this room,” He brushed past Jack and practically marched to the conference room. Jack, Sam and Teal’c followed wanting to get some answers.

                As soon as he saw the rest of his team enter, he tried to explain, “We’ve seen a symbiote transfer before, so that shouldn’t have come as a surprise for you. But,” He stopped pacing and leaned up against the glass wall looking towards the others. “I don’t understand it all yet, but Torrin is trying to tell me that Aaron and Spencer shared a profound bond.”

                “You mean they loved each other,” Sam frowned a bit as she was trying to understand what Daniel was trying to convey.

                “No, well yes they did, that much was plainly and painfully obvious. But, that’s not what I mean. Jack, Sam the two men shared a physical and spiritual bond. They literally had a bond. It’s, I’ve never seen or felt anything like this,” Daniel slowly sank down on one of the chair's closing his eyes against the force of the emotions coming from the symbiote.

                “I’m not sure I understand Daniel,” Sam leaned forward a bit as confusion colored her expression.

                When Daniel opened his eyes Torrin had taken over, “Let me try to explain. Aaron and Spencer are from a planet called Ayrilia. There when a couple mates they physically bond with each other. They change and each takes on traits of the other. When they have sexual relations, their spirits or souls as you call them entwine together literally bonding the two people together for life. Ayrillians have no meanings of gender. Yes physically they have male and female but they don’t let gender rule them. When they find their mate, it does not matter who that is. It is one of the reasons why they live such long lives. Their bonds are rather, profound.” Torrin was finding it hard to talk as the pain of losing Spencer speared right through him.

                “Whoa,” Sam was trying to process this information when she realized the implications, “So, when Spencer,” She didn’t know how to ask what she wanted. She knew no matter what she said at the moment it would be painful.

                “When Spencer died, it would be as if one of Aaron’s limbs was ripped from his body. The physical, emotional and spiritual trauma is deep. But right now that is not the most pressing matter, we need to go back to Spyria and we need to do it fast.”

                “Is that the name of the planet?” Torrin nodded his head yes, “Why? What could possibly be there that is so urgent?”

                “Our children.”


	6. Clawing At Your Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Title** : Clawing At Your Heart  
>  **Fandom** : Criminal Minds  
>  **Series** : Human Darkness Chronicles  
>  **Year** : 2012  
>  **Tags** : Rape, Dub-con, depression, dark, love,  
>  **Ratings** : NC17  
>  **Pairings** : Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid  
>  **Characters** : Aaron Hotchner, Spencer Reid, David Rossi, Derek Morgan, JJ Jareau, Jessica Brooks, Jack Hotchner  
>  **Summary** : Aaron and Spencer had been taken by the group of unsubs the team had been tracking down. They were kidnapping men and forcing one to have sex with the other and filming it. Aaron lost track of the days they were there and he was at his limit. He was ready to die than to assault Reid one more time. The team finally tracked them down but Aaron was broken so much the team wasn’t sure he was going to be able to come back from this tragedy  
>  **Words** : 2388  
>  **Warnings** : Rape, Dub-con  
>  **Beta** : None

 

Aaron had lost track of time. He wasn’t sure anymore just how long he and Reid had been held captive. He knew that the team was looking for them, well hoped at least. He knew that Reid had probably worked out how much time had passed but he was afraid to ask, if he could ask that was. They had been separated by the UnSubs. Reid had been kept upstairs chained to a bed, while he was kept downstairs, half naked and almost constantly in a state of arousal. He figured out they had been feeding him doses of some version of Viagra. He had tried on the second day, when he had worked out what his captors were doing, not to eat or drink anything but that just earned him one; a severe beating and two; a lecture by Reid. He resigned himself to his state and definitely made plans to kill the men keeping him in this state, making him do things that made his stomach recoil. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold on before the team found them, wasn’t sure how many more times they could make him hurt his best friend.

Aaron closed his eyes in resignation when the door to his room was opened and he was told to undress. He did as ordered and was immediately forced upstairs to Reid’s bedroom. Standing there at the end of the bed Aaron couldn’t help the tears that fell from the knowledge of what his captors wanted, yet again. He looked down at Reid and pleaded with his eyes, he wanted out of this hell that he had been living in. The gun cocked and he was ordered to yet again to --fuck his best friend.

“No,” Aaron growled out as he stood there vibrating with pain and anger coursing through him.

“You will do as you’re told Agent Hotchner or I will kill you this time.”

“Then kill me,” He looked into Reid’s eyes and saw the pain his words had caused his subordinate.

“Aaron, don’t do this, okay? Just, just do what they want. It’s okay Aaron, you aren’t hurting me.” Reid tried to plead with his boss, his friend to co-operate. He knew what this was doing to Aaron, every time they forced him to have sex it was tearing a little piece out of him a little at a time. He wasn’t sure how he was going to keep Aaron holding on. He knew the man was at the end of his rope. 

“Spencer,” Aaron again pleaded with him, “Just let me go.” Aaron let the tears flow, he was loathe to stop them at this point. He didn’t care anymore about the gun to his head, he just wanted this horror to stop.

“Aaron, please they’ll find us okay? You have to believe they will find us. It’s okay Aaron it’s okay I trust you.” 

“Get on with it already or I’ll kill you both right here and now,” the voice next to him was filled with pure venom and hate.

It was the small smile and nod from Reid that broke his resolve. Aaron slowly climbed on the bed and a bottle of lube and a condom was shoved into his hands. Shaking he put the condom on and used a little of the lube to slick it up a little. The UnSub didn’t even let him prepare Reid properly but it almost no longer mattered. They had done this so many times over the, how long? One week? Two? It didn’t even seem to matter anymore. Tears flowed as Aaron entered Reid and once again was made to do things he never thought he would.

When it was over Aaron was shoved back into his room and he shut down. He didn’t think that he could do it again. He closed his eyes and broke. Not even Foyet had broken him so completely as these people had. He knew the next time they came for him he would fight, he would fight with whatever he had left in him even if it meant him dying.

Aaron grabbed his sheet and curled up in the corner, his legs to his chest and cried. He couldn’t believe what these people made him do, he couldn’t believe the things he did to Reid. Before all this happened they had talked about going on a date. Rossi had prodded him into finally talking to Reid about what he was feeling and much to his surprise and happiness Reid was feeling much the same way. Aaron knew now there was no chance at all for that bit of happiness he thought he had found with Reid. It was shattered the first time they forced him to have sex with Reid. He was deep in his head, rocking back and forth in the corner when he heard voices. He didn’t dare hope as he curled tighter. Maybe it was just more of the UnSub’s people coming and when the door to his room burst open he flinched. His eyes glazed in pain as he pleaded brokenly for them to stop.

“Hotch, come on man, it’s me, its Derek,” Morgan started to reach out but a hand on his arm stopped him.

“Morgan, look. I think we should let JJ.” Aaron looked up and tried to focus but he just couldn’t clear the fog from his brain. “He’s in severe shock. I think he’s been sexually traumatized Derek.” The voice was soft but he still wasn’t thinking clearly.

“Fuck,” Morgan growled under his breath and it made Aaron flinch.

“It’s okay Aaron, we’re going to get you out of here, okay?” Dave was hunched down trying to get Aaron to focus on him and him alone. Morgan ran back up the stairs to retrieve JJ. When she arrived down the stairs after getting Reid settled and part of the story of what happened to them, her heart broke as she saw the strong, stoic Unit Chief curled up in the corner holding a sheet to him. Thankfully everyone but Rossi had left the room. She slowly approached and put a hand on Rossi’s shoulder telling him it was okay, that she would take care of Aaron.

“Hotch, it’s JJ. Do you understand?” She looked at him as worry creased her brow.

“JJ?” Aaron looked at her and tried to hold in the tears that wanted to break.

“Yes, it’s me Hotch. Come on, we need to get you out of here.” JJ held out her hand which he slowly took but instead of getting up he pulled her into him and broke.

At first JJ was startled but she slowly moved to where she was sitting in his lap with his head cradled on her shoulder. She let him breakdown as she held him tightly against her.

“It’s okay Hotch, its okay.” Tears formed in her eyes as she held the man she considered a big bother in her arms.

“They, they made me do terrible things Jayje. Reid, oh god Reid.” He wrapped his arms around her and tried to get his uncontrolled sobbing under control.

“Shhhh, Hotch we have to get you out of here,” JJ softly said.

Pulling back he wiped a hand down his face and nodded. She searched the room and found a set of pajamas that she handed to him. Turning around she waited till he said it was okay.

“Come on, you don’t have to talk to anyone if you don’t want to but we do have to take you to the hospital, okay?” 

“Fine.” His voice was hollow, emotionless as he walked up the stairs and out to the ambulance. He knew what was going to happen, knew it needed to but it was difficult to take those steps. The team wanted to talk to him but he saw that JJ shook her head at them. He was grateful for her understanding. The EMT’s prodded him onto a gurney and got him into an ambulance with JJ still right there with him. He didn’t even look towards Reid in the other vehicle, he couldn’t face him, especially after everything that happened.

Aaron was silent the whole way to the hospital. He knew he was in shock but he needed time to process. He didn’t even flinch when they did the physical, taking blood and urine samples, blood pressure and temperature and taking a rape kit. He just laid there and looked up at the ceiling, knowing what they would find.

JJ was worried about him. Saw that he was shutting down, retreating into himself and she didn’t know how to help him. She tried counseling him like most victims who had suffered sexual assault but he didn’t respond. Patting the back of his hand she left him to go find the rest of the team.

“How is he JJ?” Morgan was the first to ask when she found them in a waiting room.

“He’s not doing well at all Derek. He’s only responding to requests by the staff but he’s shutdown. What the hell happened in that house?”

“Reid told us what he could. They forced Hotch to repeatedly have sex with Reid.”

“Oh my god Derek,” JJ looked at him horrified. “How do we help him?”

“I don’t know. Reid seems strangely okay. He’s more worried about Hotch and what this has done to him. Not to say that he is unaffected but he’s compartmentalized. I don’t know what it’s going to do to the kid when he no longer is compartmentalizing. This, I don’t know Jayje, it may destroy them both.” Morgan didn’t want to think about the days ahead and what it was going to do to both Reid and Aaron.

“I just got done with the Doctor.” Rossi came up to them, “The UnSub’s were feeding Aaron a steady dose of a variation of Viagra.” Rossi looked like he wanted to kill someone.

Morgan was watching him and saw something in Rossi’s expression, “There’s more isn’t there?”

“The rape kit came back positive. I don’t think Reid knows, or if he does he didn’t want to tell us.” Rossi looked like he could murder someone.

“Son-of-a-bitch,” Derek growled under his breath as he stalked off. He didn’t want to get angry and emotional in front of the others.

Rossi watched him walk away and just closed his eyes took a deep breath then looked back at JJ and Prentiss. The team didn’t need this after everything they had to deal with in the last couple of years. He walked to Aaron’s room and sat down in a chair next to his bed.

“Aaron, you have to understand that none of this is your fault.” The man on the bed was just staring up at the ceiling. He was trying to shut everyone and everything out. “Morgan said that the kid doesn’t blame you and I know he’s telling us the truth.” Rossi reached out to grab Aaron’s hand but he flinched away, not wanting to be touched.

The two men sat there in silence for hours before Aaron finally moved his bed to a sitting-up position. He looked over at Dave and glared.

“How can he think that? I raped him Dave. They held a gun to my head and made me,” Aaron’s face scrunched up in pain as he struggled to hold back the tears. “They held that gun to my head and told me to do, things, to Reid. How do I live with that? How can you even look at me?” Aaron looked away not wanting to see the expression on his best friend’s face.

“Reid claims that it was the other way around. That what they were doing to you was more of a rape than what you did to him. We know they assaulted you also Aaron.”

Rossi saw Aaron’s stoic mask slip into place but he didn’t turn his head back.

“I think you are going to have to talk to someone when we get back to DC. You need to understand what happened and you need to talk to Reid.”

Aaron didn’t say anything he just kept staring at the wall. Rossi didn’t know how to help and sighing he left the room.

The next day both Aaron and Reid were released from the hospital. They had been a little dehydrated and Aaron was given a topical cream for the rash that had developed on his chest from the constant doses of Viagra. He also needed to see his ENT, or ear doctor to have his hearing checked. He had complained of a constant ringing in his already compromised ear. 

The plane ride back was painfully silent. Reid had tried to talk to Aaron but the Unit Chief was still in a state of shock. When they finally landed Cruz was there and he had a medical order in hand relieving Aaron from duty for a period of three months on the caveat that he speak with a psychologist. If he didn’t comply, the medical leave would be drawn out longer. 

Taking the paperwork Aaron stalked to his vehicle and drove home. Everyone let him, they all knew he was angry and emotional. They didn’t want to push him further, no one knew what that would do to him. Reid watched him stalk off and his heart broke for Aaron. He tried several times over the course of their captivity that even though the circumstances were far from ideal, he didn’t see anything done as rape. He loved Aaron, though it was a secret that he would never have confessed but seeing how Aaron was slowly succumbing to a major depressive episode he knew he needed to talk to Aaron. He would give him a at least a week then he would go to him. He had been surprised to learn that he was also given the same amount of time and told to seek counseling before he would be cleared back into the field.

So it was with a heavy heart that Reid got into his car and drove away. The rest of the team was watching them go and wondered if either of them was going to come back, and if they did were they going to come back whole.


	7. Harry's Claim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Title** : Harry’s Claim  
>  **Fandom** : Harry Potter  
>  **Year** : 1994  
>  **Tags** : Magical Bonding, Soulmates, light Dom/sub, rivals-to-boyfriends, teens kissing  
>  **Ratings** : PG-13, later NC17  
>  **Pairings** : Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy  
>  **Characters** : Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, Minerva McGonagall, Dumbledore, Ron Weasley, Hermione Grainger  
>  **Summary** : Harry just wanted to shut Draco up. He had gone one step to far, but instead of beating the little shit, he kissed him. He didn’t know why he kissed him and when the collar appeared around Draco’s neck and the matching cuffs around his wrists Harry was entitled to the major freak-out. He didn’t expect long buried feelings to surface, now he didn’t know what the hell to do.  
>  **Words** : 1843  
>  **Warnings** : None  
>  **Beta** : None

 

Harry couldn’t take it anymore, Draco went one step too far this time and he decided to finally do something about it. Grabbing the sleeve of his robe Harry pulled Draco along and flung him into a broom closet. Shoving him up against the wall Harry was overtaken by another deeper more primal feeling. He thought he was going to resort to physical violence but what he did next surprised them both.

Harry trapped Draco with just his hands, no magic. He knew that Malfoy could use magic to get away from him but he wasn’t. He was breathing heavy with anticipation. Darting his tongue out Draco wet his lips, his eyes dilated and his breathing was fast and shallow as he watched and waited to see what Harry was going to do. Still keeping Draco trapped against the wall Harry leaned in close and instead of a witty barb at Draco’s expense Harry kissed him. At first it was dry and chaste but Harry closed his eyes and fisted his hand in Draco’s hair as he slowly deepened the kiss. When all Draco did was return that kiss Harry was lost. The bright flash of magic that flared between them told them something strange had happened. Harry pulled back and sucked in a sharp breath as his eyes widened.

“What is it Potter?” Draco actually sounded concerned which threw Harry off even more.

“Merlin’s beard Malfoy.” Harry reached up and gently ran his hand along the green collar that had appeared around Draco’s neck. He then looked down at his own wrists and noticed the matching cuffs.

Draco frowned as his hand felt around his neck at the collar. His eyes widened as he looked at Harry withdrawing his wand he called for a mirror.

“ _Accio Mirror._ ” Draco looked at the intricate braided green collar that had a gold Celtic knot at its center. “Merlin Harry, don’t you know what this is?”

“No, what?” Harry’s eyes were wide with fear as he touched the collar again.

“It’s a claiming collar Potter. It means you claim me as your own.” Malfoy was secretly relieved. Ever since they met that fateful day in Diagon Alley Draconis Lucious Malfoy had wanted nothing more than to run up to Harry James Potter and do, something. He just wasn’t sure what at the time. And ever since the pull towards the boy-who-lived only got stronger. The fact that Harry had rejected him at that time had hurt like hell and he lashed out the only way he knew how. He hadn’t even known why he was lashing out but he had and now, Harry was finally doing to him what he had only dreamed of.

“What? I, oh god Draco, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” Harry was terrified. Even though Draco was an utter prat to him this wasn’t what he wanted at all. He never wanted to own anyone, that wasn’t him.

“Harry.” Draco felt Harry’s distress and tried to calm the boy down. He cupped Harry’s cheek then pulled him in for another slow heated kiss. “It’s okay Potter. If I hadn’t wanted this magic would never have let it happen.”

“What does it mean Dragon?” Harry wasn’t sure why he just called Draco that but it felt right as his fingers brushed against Draco’s cheek he let his forehead fall against Draco’s  and the flare of magic between them took his breath away. “I mean I’ve seen them on others but no one has ever explained them to me.”

“Harry, I think we need to go talk to Dumbledore. You need to understand what’s just happened and, well this may get awkward.” Draco smirked at his partner who looked utterly horrified yet again.

“This changes everything doesn’t it?” Harry reluctantly stepped back when all he wanted to do was kiss Draco yet again.

“Yes is does. Harry,” Draco took a deep breath because he had things to say to Harry that he should have said before. He blames his silence on youth and adhering to his father’s ridiculous rules. “I’ve never hated you, you know. In fact, if I had magic wouldn’t have let you claim me. I was angry when you didn’t want to be my friend when all I wanted to do was to climb in your lap and have your arms around me. Something in me recognized you as mine.” Draco was afraid that their years of animosity towards each other was going to make Harry run from him yet again. He grasped Harry’s wrists and held them up, “This proves it. You can’t take them off they are forever Potter. Just like this is.” Draco reached up and fingered the collar.

“Draco.” Harry smiled softy and leaned in to kiss his Dragon yet again. He wasn’t sure exactly what was going on but he knew what he liked and he very much liked kissing Draco Malfoy. “I never meant to hurt you. All of this was so confusing to me. When I felt that pull towards you it scared the shite out of me. I didn’t know what to do with all these feelings that were so suddenly upon me when we met-“ Before Harry could get out anything else the door flew open and Professor McGonagall stood there ready to give Harry a lecture in proper wizard behavior.

“Merlin, Potter, what is going on?” The Professor’s eyes widened at the collar around Draco’s neck. “Oh, oh my you two better come with me.” She grabbed their hands then apparated with them to just outside Dumbledore’s office.

“Lemon Meringue,” McGonagall said to the portrait guarding Dumbledore’s office. When it opened and revealed the stairs Harry started to get nervous. Draco though was smirking at his mate almost as if he had been waiting for this day all along.

“Minerva, what is going on here? Why have you brought-“ Dumbledore stopped in his tracks and saw the flushed look on Harry’s face and the collar on Draco’s neck. “Oh, I see.” The Headmaster slowly sat back down while the boys took seats in front of his desk. McGonagall waived her wand and conjured a chair so she could sit near Dumbledore.

“Professor, I don’t know what happened. I just was so tired of Malfoy always pushing my buttons I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t mean to, well I did and it was nice but I didn’t expect,” Harry’s eyes widened because he had absolutely no idea what was happening.

“Harry, calm down and tell us what happened.”

“He snogged the hell out of me is what happened.” Malfory grinned and had a smirk on his face when he looked back at Harry, “And he’s an awfully good kisser. Just wish he would have done it earlier, would have saved us both a ton of grief. Don’t’ you think Potter?”

“Dragon, you are certainly going to be the death of me and not Voldemort.” Harry brushed his hand against Draco’s shoulder and smiled. He laced his hand with Draco’s and sighed.

“Harry, you have proclaimed Draco as yours. When you,” Dumbledore cleared his throat a moment before he continued, “Snogged.” The twinkle in his eye didn’t quite leave him as he stared at the two boys. “I am going to assume that neither one of you has looked into the Book of Souls?”

Harry looked to the adults in question, “The Book of Souls?”

“Yes it’s a book in the Ministry that is magically sealed and if your name is in there you can open it. If not the book will never open. It records the names of soulmates at the time of their births.”

“So you’re saying Draco and I are..“ Harry looked over at the boy who had taunted and ridiculed him for the last three years and smiled. So much made sense all of a sudden, “Soulmates?”

“That is exactly what I am saying Harry,” Dumbledore sat back and let Harry try to work it out for himself. Grabbing a lemon drop he watched as both boys figured it out at the same time.

“So, this was a type of bonding.” Harry bit his lip a moment and felt his magic stir deep inside him when he thought about Draco being connected to him so thoroughly. He found he rather liked the feeling and when he closed his eyes and concentrated he found the tether that had begun to build within him. It was strong and bright and it was wrapping around his core, attaching itself to him. The tether was made of pure light magic and it made Harry look at Draco in a whole new way.

“Yes Harry it is,” McGonagall could see that Harry was making connections that he hadn’t before.

Harry turned to Draco and smiled. He ran a hand through the short white hair and liked the feeling when Draco leaned into the touch.

“What do we do now?”

“First we need to get a hold of that damn rat of Ron’s. I’ve been suspicious of the thing since he told me it had been handed down in the family for years. Rats, even magical only live a few years, not fourteen.”

“What are you saying Potter?”

Harry took a few minutes to gather his thoughts before he summoned the Maurader’s Map. When he opened it he showed both Professor’s and told them of his suspicions.

“I suspect that Scabbars is actually Pettigrew. If we can capture him can you force him to change Professor McGonagall?”

“It’s a terrible thing to do to an animagus Potter.” McGonagall sat back in her chair watching Harry a moment.

“Yes it is but if he is Pettigrew then it will prove that Sirius is innocent and if he is then he can carry out the wishes of my parents.” Harry sat back down in the chair and stared at Dumbledore, “I can’t go back to the Dursley’s Professor. I just can’t.”

Harry gathered up the map and waited to hear what Dumbledore and McGonagall had to say.

“This is very bad timing my boy, very bad timing.”

“Well there isn’t a good timing for this now is there? If you had listened to me in the first place about Sirius maybe you would have tried harder to look for Pettigrew.”

Dumbledore took a deep breath as he thought about what to do.

“Okay Minerva bring the Weasley boy here and tell him to bring the rat.” McGonagall left to go retrieve Ron which left Draco and Harry with Dumbledore.

“Harry, why don’t you want to go back to your muggle guardians?” Draco asked as he frowned at the boy who was practically boring holes in Dumbledore. He had often wondered about Harry and what happened to him over the summer. Each time he came back the boy looked worse than he had before. It often made Draco upset but he never knew what to do with those feelings. They came out as animosity and that had been the last thing that he wanted.


	8. Love and The Apocalypse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Title** : Love and The Apocalypse  
>  **Fandom** : Criminal Minds, Supernatural  
>  **Series** : For the Love of a Grigori, Part 2  
>  **Year** : 2008  
>  **Tags** : Apocalypse, Angel on Angel violence, Slash, Pre-slash, light bondage  
>  **Ratings** : NC17  
>  **Pairings** : Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid, Dean Winchester/Castiel, Sam Winchester/Gabriel  
>  **Characters** : Aaron Hotchner, Spencer Reid, Derek Morgan, Penelope Garcia, JJ Jareau, Emily Prentiss, David Rossi, Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, Bobby Singer, Castiel, Gabriel, Lucifer  
>  **Summary** : After outing himself to the team Spencer tried to keep a low profile but when one of his angelic brothers shows up in the middle of the FBI bullpen he gets sucked into the war he had tried to stay out of. Now his friends, his family were in danger and he knew the only way out was to help stop the Apocalypse, even if it meant teaming-up with the Winchester Brothers.  
>  **Words** : 10,518  
>  **Warnings** : Canonical Character Deaths, Graphic Violence  
>  **Beta** : None
> 
> This will be published in the next few months. Check back for link to full story.

 

 


	9. Madness Takes Hold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Title** : Madness Takes Hold  
>  **Fandom** : Criminal Minds  
>  **Year** : 2011  
>  **Tags** : Unsub!Aaron, eventual Unsub!Reid, manipulation, grief, murder, bondage, some bdsm, rough sex, canon-level violence, canon-divergent, Serial Killer Aaron  
>  **Ratings** : NC17  
>  **Pairings** : Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid  
>  **Characters** : Aaron Hotchner, Spencer Reid, Derek Morgan, Penelope Garcia, JJ Jareau, Emily Prentiss, David Rossi, Jason Gideon  
>  **Summary** : In the aftermath of Haley and Jack’s deaths at the hands of the Boston Reaper, Aaron starts to become unhinged. He keeps it together, till they capture him that is. He leaves notes for Reid on each of his victims. Reid goes to him and the team thinks he’s bringing Aaron in, they are in for a shock when Aaron easily turns Spencer and now they are both on the FBI’s most wanted list.  
>  **Words** : 2453  
>  **Warnings** : Canonical Character Death, Major Character Death, Graphic Violence  
>  **Beta** : None

 

“Haven’t you always wondered what it would be like Reid? Go ahead, I’m here and I’ll make it perfect for you,” Hotch whispers in his ear as he holds the blade in his hand hovering over the UNSUB who was tied tightly to the table. His mouth was taped but his eyes wide with horror as he watches the two men.

                “Go on baby, I know you want to,” Hotch gently took Reid’s wrist in his hand and started to push the blade down towards the naked, struggling man. Reid’s breathing was shallow and his heart was racing. He wasn’t sure if it was out of fear, anticipation or the feeling of Hotch’s raging erection pressed against his back.

                “Aaron,” Reid breathed out, “I, I,” He wasn’t sure what he wanted at that moment. A part of him wanted to do it, really wanted to do it but that little bit of rational mind he still had left told him this was wrong but oh god he wanted it. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard as his hand was slowly pushed downwards.  Then he felt it, that first cut, felt the slide of the blade over the flesh beneath him and he let out a shudder. It was almost pleasurable and it horrified and thrilled him at the same time.

                “Did you like that my love?” Hotch had moved slightly to his other side and he felt lips caressing the back of his neck. He couldn’t help it he laid his head back and moaned in pleasure.

                God, what is happening to me? Reid thought and before he could stop himself he let out a sigh and said, “Yes,” the word was out of his mouth before he could think, and for once, for once in his life he didn’t think. His mind had stilled and quieted with that first cut and it was a revelation.  When he opened his eyes back up it was a different Dr. Spencer Reid that stared out of those eyes.  The man on the table had been afraid before, but then he looked up into two pairs of eyes just shimmering with a hint of madness and now he was terrified.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

                _Eighteen Months earlier_

“Aaron, I don’t want to go.” Reid held onto his boss, his lover as tears flowed down his face.  The funeral was over and now they were called into a case.  How was that fair? He was angry and grieving along with Hotch but now he had to leave.

                “It’s okay Spence, you go. The team will need you,” He said almost mechanically.

                “But Aaron you need me more.” He pulled back and looked into the pain filled eyes of the unit chief and his heart broke yet again.

                “Go Reid, they aren’t going to wait for you much longer. When you get home I’ll be there. I promise I won’t do anything.” Reid left him with a heavy heart. He didn’t want to go but he knew he had to. He normally loved his job, but this was one time that he could safely say that if he had the chance he would tell the bureau to go fuck it.

                Hotch pulled away and just stared out over the cemetery and cried. He cried for his ex-wife Haley and how his actions had put her in danger but even more he cried for his son Jack, who had only been four. If Reid hadn’t have come into the room when he had, Hotch knew that he would have ended his life right there and then. But when he felt those surprisingly strong familiar arms around him, holding him begging him to stay he dropped the gun and curled up in the safety of those arms.  He let Reid lead him out of the house and back to their apartment. He couldn’t answer any questions then but Reid had given the officers their phone number and address and said to come by the next day.  They made it home where they both cleaned up then curled up on the bed together emotionally drained and exhausted they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

                Now, now he hung on for his lover he couldn’t abandon Reid, not now. The shock of Gideon’s abrupt return still hadn’t worn off and now this.  Jack had become as much of a son to Reid as he was to Hotch. He was angry at the bureau for calling his team out, especially on this day. He hoped that Reid could hold it together to work the case; he hoped he could hold it together till his lover returned.  Mechanically he turned and looked back at friends and family and he suddenly didn’t want to be around them. Silently and unseen he left. He wanted to be home, wanted to be around what was familiar not here, here there were friends and strangers and he just didn’t want to play nice and deal with anyone. He knew the term for it, had seen it in many an UNSUB, dissociation, he didn’t think that he would ever experience it himself.

                He made it home a short time later, undressed, took a shower and went into Jack’s room, crawled into his bed and let his grief wash over him as he fell asleep holding the Spiderman stuffed toy Reid had given him for his birthday.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

                Three months after the funerals Reid was working at his desk, his head down and buried in paperwork but his body language said he wanted to be left alone.  This put the other profilers on alert that something was wrong.  When Morgan came striding across the bullpen from his office and noticed that his best friend was closed off, yet again, he made his way over to the younger man’s desk.

                “Hey pretty boy, you okay?” Reid threw his pen down hard and looked up at Morgan with a dangerous look.  Oh shit, thought Morgan.

                “I swear to god Morgan if you ask me that again I will not be responsible if anything happens to that vintage baseball card collection you keep in your office.” He glared at the older man daring him to speak.

                “Hey, Reid I’m your friend, I’m just worried about you.” He had noticed that Reid and Hotch were on edge lately. He understood why but it didn’t make his concern go away.

                “You know maybe the constant scrutiny and the constant questions as to my well-being could very well be contributing to the fact that I am constantly on edge lately. I come in everyday and you, JJ and Emily bombard me with various forms of ‘are you okay’. You know what?” He got up off his chair and stared at the darker man, “I’m not. Is that what you want to hear? Okay, I’m not okay. I loved Jack like he was my own and now he’s gone. So am I okay? I don’t know when I will ever be okay again. Maybe instead of constantly asking me if I am okay you could instead leave me the hell alone.” He stormed out of the bullpen to shocked looks following after him.  All eyes turned to Hotch’s office when they heard the door open and him coming out.  He ran down the stairs to see what had happened.

                “What happened?” Hotch looked over at Morgan.

                “I just asked how he was doing Hotch. He was scrunched up in his chair, head down and obviously tuning out the world around him. I understand you guys are having a hard time I couldn’t even,” He didn’t want to say it, didn’t want to go there and make things worse.

                Hotch took a deep breath, “It’s fine, I will go talk to him. Something happened this morning that brought everything back.” He willed himself not to cry. Not here, not in front of his subordinates, no he needed to stay strong.

                “What happened?” Morgan’s voice was filled with concern.

                Hotch took a moment before he spoke, “A new administrator at Jack’s old preschool called and asked why Jack hadn’t been there in over three months. Spence,” He sighed before continuing, “He lost it Morgan.”

                “Oh god Hotch, I’m so sorry.” He wanted to reach out and comfort his unit chief but he didn’t think it would be welcomed.

                “I’ll be right back.  JJ you had a case for us? Why don’t you get set-up in the conference room and we’ll be right up.” He made his way to the men’s bathroom where he knew Reid most likely went. What he saw when he got there made his heart sink.  Reid was standing there at the counter with a familiar bottle in his hands.

                “Spence, please tell me-“ Hotch slowly walked up next to the younger man.

                “No, I haven’t, I didn’t but the urge is there Aaron. God, I miss him,” He turned and wrapped himself around his lover and tried to hold back the tears.

                “I know Spencer, I know. I miss him so much, but that is not the answer and you know it.” He held tight to the younger man and closed his eyes trying to hold in his own emotions.  They stay like that for a long time not letting each other go.

                Hotch broke away first, “Come on, we have a case.” He cupped Reid’s face and kissed him softly before taking the bottle away from his lover.

                They make their way up to the conference room and Hotch groaned inwardly. He had forgotten that the case was a serial child kidnapping.  _That’s all Reid needs now_ Aaron thought, not realizing his own repressed emotions at seeing the faces of those little boys up on the screen.

                JJ looked from the screen to her boss and was actually at a loss for words.

                “It’s okay JJ, please present the case,” Hotch nodded for her to continue.

                “Omaha, Nebraska, 5 boys in the last 3 months have gone missing. All of them are between the ages of 4 and 6. So far no leads but no bodies either. The locals think that whoever took them still has them somewhere, but they haven’t had any luck. That’s why they have called us in and are wanting our help.”

                Reid looks over the files quickly keeping his emotions in check.

                “He’s definitely a preferential predator. All of the boys look alike, blond hair, brown eyes. All the same age range, no on older than six. Do we think he is just keeping them or have we just not found the bodies?”

                Gideon stood and studied the pictures of the little boys and his heart was heavy looking at how young they were.

                “Jason?” Rossi knew that stance, something was going on in Gideon’s head and some connection was being made that the rest of the team could only guess at.

                “Dave, what does this remind you of?” He turned and asked his friend. Dave studied the board for a while then turned to look at Jason.

                “But Jackson is in prison, you put him there.” Rossi looked back at the board.

                “Doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have a fan or someone of similar tastes,” Jason was chewing on a toothpick, ruminating for a moment.

                “Would you two like to share with the class?” Aaron asked his mentors in frustration.

                “Thomas Jackson, it was about five years before you came to the bureau Aaron. He kidnapped and murdered seven boys before Dave and I were called in.  We caught him and were able to save two of the boys, but the others,” Dave and Jason shared a look; they couldn’t really describe the horror that they had found in Jackson’s house.

                Aaron immediately got on the conference room phone, “Garcia, I need you to do some digging and see if we have the Thomas Jackson case from around 1996. Have copies made and have a courier get them to us.”

                “Will do Bossman, will hit you back as soon as I get it together.” Garcia clicked off.

                “Alright meet on the plane in thirty.” He got up and gathered his files together.  Reid was still looking through the files trying to find any other connections. “Reid, you can do that on the plane.” Hotch walks over and cups his face, “Are you going to be okay?” He asks quietly.

                “Yeah, I’m okay Aaron. What about you?” Spencer looks pointedly at this lover trying to gauge his emotions.

                “I’ll be okay. Come on, let’s go.” Hotch laid a hand on Reid’s shoulder encouraging the man to get going.

                They all meet on the plane and work on victimology for a while, roughing out a preliminary profile and now they were each trying to relax.

                Spencer is surprised when Gideon comes over and sits in front of him.  They still hadn’t hashed out their issues and the older man thought it was time to start. He pulled out the chessboard, a safe way for them to at least try to repair a once tight relationship.

                “Chess, Gideon? Do you think that is going to make-up and solve everything?”  Reid glared at him. He had been avoiding the man since he had showed up at Haley and Jack’s funerals and then a short time later was re-instated at the bureau.

                “No Spencer, I don’t, but I do think it’s a place to start.” He set it up and let Reid make the opening move.

                “I don’t want to talk about all of that right now.” Reid waited for Gideon to make the next move.

                “I know, but we do have to at some point.” The older man gave Reid an inscrutable look as he chewed on that ever present toothpick.

                “Look, let’s just get through this case then maybe, I mean maybe we’ll talk.” Gideon knew then that nothing he could say or do would get Reid to open up. He realized that the only person he would open up to now was Hotch. When he came back he was honestly surprised at finding out about the relationship between the two men. He was one of the best profilers, hell he was one of the originators of the BAU and he hadn’t seen it. He never would have suspected that the ever stoic Aaron Hotchner was attracted to men.  But, the longer he was around them he saw it and then he thought about Georgia and could actually pinpoint in his head when Hotch started to get closer to the genius. He kicked himself for not seeing it earlier. He made so many mistakes with the two men in front of him that he wondered if they would ever let him back in.


	10. Reid's Sentinel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Title** : Reid’s Sentinel  
>  **Fandom** : Criminal Minds, SGA, SG1, Sentinel, NCIS  
>  **Year** : 2007  
>  **Tags** : Sentinel Bonds, Broken Bonds, Gideon Bashing, Grief, Loss, feral Sentinel, Canon-level violence, attempted suicide,  
>  **Ratings** : NC17  
>  **Pairings** : Spencer Reid/Tara Gideon (OFC), eventual Spencer/Tara/Miko, Aaron Hotchner/Derek Morgan, Eventual Aaron/Derek/Dr. Lam, John/Rodney, Weir/Zalenka, Jack/Daniel, Tayla/Ronan, Gibbs/Fornell, Cameron/Vala  
>  **Characters** : Criminal Minds - All, SGA - Jack/Daniel, Various, SG1, John, Rodney -VArious, NCIS - Gibbs, Fornell  
>  **Summary** : Tara Gideon was ripped away from her guide at 17 years old. She’s been missing for almost nine years. When SGA1 steps through the Stargate and finds a feral feral female Sentinel and Rodney learns who she is the ramifications will tilt several people’s worlds. Especially after finding out the Protector Sentinels are real and Tara is one, as is Aaron Hotchner and what does it all mean?  
>  **Words** : 20,237  
>  **Warnings** : Graphic Violence, Attempted Suicide  
>  **Beta** : None
> 
> You can find the complete first episode on my website, or on the Wild Hare Project.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is still in the editing stages. It is not done by any means. This story is still rough, please no non-consensual beta.

 

 


	11. Templar's Justice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Title** : Templar’s Justice  
>  **Fandom** : Criminal Minds, Once-Upon-A-Time  
>  **Series** : The Ways of Aaron Hotchner  
>  **Year** : 2012  
>  **Tags** : Templar!Aaron, Dragon!Reid, Soulmates, Bonded, Magic is real, Deals with Rumple Never Turn out well.  
>  **Ratings** : PG-13  
>  **Pairings** : Spencer Reid/Aaron Hotchner, Snow/David, Emma/Hook  
>  **Characters** : Criminal Minds – All, Once-upon-a-Time - Most  
>  **Summary** : The curse broke, Aaron felt his magic returning, too bad it was on a case. When he looked at Spencer, his eyes were turning and knew he had felt it to. Now his team was asking questions and it’s only when they got to Storybrooke that the normally rational team starts to believe them. Confronted with fairy tale characters how is the BAU going to react?  
>  **Words** : 3427  
>  **Warnings** : None  
>  **Beta** : None

 This story has been re-edited and a tease is on the 2017 Evil Author Day.

 


	12. The Pain of Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Title** : The Pain of Memory  
>  **Fandom** : Criminal Minds, X-Men  
>  **Series** : The Ways of Aaron Hotchner  
>  **Year** : 2010  
>  **Tags** : Memory Manipulation, Mutant!Hotch, Canon-level Violence, Slash, Guilty Feelings, Self-Sacrifice, Pre-Slash  
>  **Ratings** : PG-13  
>  **Pairings** : Aaron Hotchner/Remy LeBeau,  
>  **Characters** : Aaron Hotchner, Remy LeBeau, Scott Summers, Jason Gideon  
>  **Summary** : Aaron was forced into a heart-breaking decision when he was twenty-two, remove all memories of him and his lover Remy LeBeau from Remy’s mind so that Remy could fulfill the marriage contract between him and Bella Donna Boudreaux. Aaron never got over his love for Remy, in fact he keeps those memories close to him in a card he stole from Remy’s pack. Now years later Remy is now part of the BAU and he’s slowly figuring out just who Aaron is. When he finds the card Remy makes a decision that puts everyone Aaron loves in danger.  
>  **Words** : 2610  
>  **Warnings** : Canon-Level Violence, Forced Telepathic Rape  
>  **Beta** : None

 

Aaron Hotchner found himself walking the streets of the French Quarter. He had ordered the team back to the hotel but he hadn’t seen Reid anywhere. He knew that his youngest agent had missed the plane to Texas on purpose and he also knew why. He couldn’t let it continue and he knew he was going to have to confront Reid but he knew right now wasn’t the time. Now, Aaron was wandering the streets looking for him to bring him back. This was also a walk of nostalgia for the Unit Chief. No one on the team knew he had spent quite some time here in The Big Easy. It was just after High School when he felt the need to get away from home and all the expectations that had been pushed on him. To get away from his father before he did something that he would truly regret. It didn’t help that the year before he came into his abilities. His home was bad enough before, but showing even subtle mutant traits, well things just got worse after that.

These thoughts were in his head when he stopped in front of an old familiar dive bar. One he and his companion at the time had spent many an hour in. With a soft smile on his lips he walked inside and was assaulted with the once familiar sounds of a Zydeco band playing on the small stage. Thoughts of his time before college and the trouble he and his partner would get into left a small smile on his face. Aaron moved to the bar and ordered an Abita. Slowly sipping the amber brew, he let his eyes scan the room. He knew Spencer wasn’t here but memories had compelled him to go in. When he smelled the rich aroma of a seafood boil coming from the kitchen he asked the bartender for a half-pound of crawfish. The bartender just smiled and came back a few minutes later with a plate full of the dark red crustaceans, several pieces of homemade andouille sausage and mini potatoes. Aaron looked back up at the bartender and raised a brow because he hadn’t ordered a full boil, just the crawfish. It took him a few moments but when he really looked the bartender gave him a wide knowing smile.

“Thomas, you’re still here running this dump?” Aaron had a light playful tone to his voice but it was far from how he was feeling.

“Took y’ long ‘nuff y’ connard. Thought y’ wasn’t gonna recognize me mon amis.” The bartender came around and grabbed the agent in a crushing hug.

“It’s been a long time.” The note of sadness in Aaron’s voice was to be expected, Thomas had been witness to the young man’s romance then heartache.

“What’cha doin’ here Aaron?” The thick Cajun accent made Aaron think of someone else as he took a bite of one of the sausages to help tamp down the well of emotion that surged up.

“My team has a case. Hey, maybe you could help out.” Aaron described the person they are looking for to the bartender and he promised to keep an eye out.

Thomas looked up and did a sharp intake of breath, “You need ta’ git outta here cher.” The bartender whispers as he watches Aaron’s face.

The man was looking towards the front entrance when someone enters the bar. Aaron closes his eyes against a flood of memories as he watched the newcomer almost glide across the room. The auburn hair was longer but the coat, it was the same one that Aaron had given this man more than twenty years ago. The pain of loss surged fresh in Aaron’s heart as he watched the handsome man move up to the bar. Then he spoke and that honeyed Cajun accent washed over him as memories flooded his mind.

“Well, look what we got here.” The man turned to Aaron and smiled a wicked smile, “Aren’t ‘ya a handsome devil.”

Aaron wanted to say something but he couldn’t. His tongue was tied as he watched his former lover standing there flirting with him and looking better than any man had a right to. But the thing that hurt the most, the thing that cut deep to the bone was the knowledge that this man that Aaron had loved, still loved if he was truly honest with himself, had absolutely no memory of him.

“Well, Remy LeBeau, otherwise known as Gambit. I thought you were banned from New Orleans?” Aaron smirked at the devil eyed man.

“An’ how do y’ know Remy’s name bel homme?”

“My name is Aaron Hotchner and I know who you work with.” Aaron reached up and took a contact out of his eye. He didn’t believe that any of his team would look for him in here. Especially since it’s off the path of their killer. When he looked back at Remy he took a deep breath. The deep blue with the silver rims made Remy pause.

“You know my associates?”

“Yes, I do.”

“How come I never hear ‘bout y’ cher?”

“Hmm, probably because I’m a federal agent.”

Remy narrowed his eyes at the man but his charm hummed within him. Something about this man felt familiar and he didn’t know why.

“What does a fed know ‘bout ‘dis part of New Orleens?”

“Used to come here with,” Aaron sighed and turned back to his plate, “someone I cared about.”

“And dey ain’t in da’ picture no more?”

Aaron picked up a crawfish to give himself time to settle he pinched the body and pulled out the sweet meat with his teeth then took the head and sucked out the sweet juice.

“No. No they aren’t.” He went back to eating and sipping his beer.

“Only someone from ‘round here know how t’ eat dem’ right. So your beau he from here right?”

Aaron looked up and suddenly he knew this had been a very bad idea. He wanted desperately to reach out and cup the cheek and kiss those lips, to say he was sorry and he wished he hadn’t had to do what he did, but he couldn’t.

“Well, It was nice meeting you Mr. LeBeau. I ah, I need to get back to work.” Aaron looked at the bartender and laid a twenty on the counter.

“Naw, y’ keep it cher. Dis one on de house.”

“I can’t let you do that Thomas.”

“It’s no problem Hotch. Ya’ go on now and take care.” Aaron shook his head before he went to the restroom and put his contact back in. Gripping the sink, he sighed as his heart was breaking all over again. Getting himself together he left the bar and headed back towards the killer’s hunting ground.

He wasn’t paying attention as he was walking back towards the killer’s hunting grounds, and he tried to react when he felt strong hands grip his arm and pull him into an alley. As soon as he was released he spun around impossibly fast as he whipped out the gun in his holster. Lifting it up swiftly when he stopped he growled low in his throat as he put his gun away.

“What the hell Scott? I almost shot you,” Aaron growled.

“I could say the same to you Hotch.”

“I didn’t know you guys were here. I would have warned you somehow.” The miserable look in the Agent’s eye told Scott all he needed to know.

“You saw him didn’t you?”

“Don’t lecture me Summers.”

“I’m not. I’m sorry I know it probably wasn’t easy.”

“Easy? You don’t know the half of it. Remy was my life and it was taken from me. If he ever remembers we all know what will happen.”

“It’s been years Aaron. How do you know they would carry out their threat?”

“Because every so often I get a note in the mail, a reminder and I can’t risk his family, it would kill him.”

“And what has this done to you? Can’t your own team help?”

“They don’t even know I’m a mutant Scott.”

“Dammit Aaron, when is this going to stop and when are you going to give him back those memories?”

“I can’t. It’s not only Remy’s family they threatened. They know my team and I can’t put them in jeopardy too.” Aaron blew out a breath as he paced back and forth. “Please Scott don’t violate the agreement.”

“Fine. But we could help you know, end this once and for all.” Scott crossed his arms and Aaron could swear he felt a glare coming from behind those ruby colored glasses.

“Look I have to go. We’re investigating a serial killer and my team is going to wonder where I am.”

“Don’t be so damn stubborn and let us help.” This was an old argument between them and neither man gave an inch. Aaron saw when Scott conceded the argument when he shook his head and let out a frustrated sigh. “Then don’t be a damn stranger Aaron.”

“Thanks for that call two months ago. How are the kids doing?” This was a safe topic because Aaron didn’t want to discuss Remy anymore.

“They’re good. All are adjusting quite well.”

“Scottie, where de’ hell y’ go?” Aaron groaned as he saw Remy approaching. He cursed inwardly that they even took this case. He really wished they had never come to New Orleans and he knew just how selfish that sounded.

“Look, I have to go.” He skirted around the Cajun and hurriedly left the alley Scott had dragged him into

“Alright. Be careful Hotch.”

It took all of Aaron’s will to walk out of that alley and back towards his team. He put all thoughts of LeBeau out of his head. It had taken everything he had to walk away that first time but he had done it out of love. Jean-Luc and Henri were safe as long as Aaron kept Remy’s memories. It didn’t matter what he wanted and he ignored that voice that told him what he needed. With one last look towards Remy and Scott, Aaron walked away.

When he finally found Gideon again he was miserable. He wondered what happened and how Gambit was in New Orleans but that was a mystery he would have to leave for another time.

“Where the hell have you been?” Gideon looked at the Unit Chief and immediately knew something was wrong. “Hotch, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Let’s find this woman before she kills again.”

“Did you find Reid?”

“No. But this hands-off approach isn’t working Gideon. Spencer needs help.”

“Don’t you think I know what’s going on with him? Now let’s just get back to figuring this killer out, then we can figure Reid out.”

That was fine with Aaron as he stalked away from Gideon. He didn’t want to get into it with his second-in-command and right now after the evening he had he really didn’t want to be around the man.

In the end they found their Unsub. A woman who had been wronged by the very people that were supposed to help and protect her. It was the son of the original police chief, Will LaMontagna Jr. that had saved her next victim. Aaron also wasn’t blind to what was going on with Will and JJ and he smiled to himself hoping that she didn’t let an obviously good thing go.

When they were at the hotel Aaron was pacing his room restless. They weren’t leaving till the morning but he just couldn’t settle. Throwing on Jeans and a polo shirt he left the hotel and decided to just walk the boulevard. After a while he found a jazz club he liked the look of and decided to go inside. After ordering a scotch he turned to look at the piano player and got lost for a moment in the music. Aaron remarked to himself how very good the man was as he leaned back and tried to relax, but there were too many memories in this city and it was putting him on edge.

“We meet again cher.” Aaron closed his eyes and cursed.

“Are you following me Mr. LeBeau?”

“No. I come to hear mon ami Ethan. He is good, no?” Remy took a step closer to Aaron and for the life of him he couldn’t get away. He was caught in those eyes that had attracted him so long ago. “I think we keep runnin’ into each other fo’ a reason. Do y’ believe in fate?” Remy reached out and ran the back of his hand along Aaron’s cheek. Aaron knew he should pull away but he didn’t. Instead he leaned into that hand and sighed. “Why y’ look so sad mon tigre.”

Aaron almost moaned. It was an old endearment, but Remy didn’t know that.

“Just a lot of memories.”

“Y’ never did confirm one way or de other. Beau or belle?” Remy smiled wickedly and Aaron felt his charm skitter across his skin. The feeling was so damn familiar it hurt but he didn’t let it show. He wrapped his stoicism around him like armor and swallowed hard under that steady gaze.

“Beau. Il etait tout pour moi, et je lui ai perdu. Il etait mon coeur, et mon ame.”** Aaron said softly, the Cajun French flowed from him like he had spoken the language for years. It was from those memories that he held so dear. He wanted so badly to reach out but he didn’t. He curled his hands into fists to keep from touching what was right in front of him.

“Sounds like he didn’ deserve y’ den.” Aaron tried his hardest to hold back the emotion swelling inside of him. He wanted to say that he didn’t deserve Remy. He was young and made a rash decision. A decision that’s haunted him for twenty years.

“It just wasn’t meant to be.” Aaron was taken by surprise when the Cajun leaned in and kissed him. His heart sang but he knew he couldn’t have this, as much as he wanted it. He pulled back and almost immediately felt the loss.

“I’m sorry, I, I can’t.”

“Can’t or won’t cher. Do de ghost of y’r beau haunt y’ dat much?”

“Every time I wake-up.” Aaron said as he drained off the last of his scotch. He looked over and saw Spencer sitting next to the piano player and it suddenly clicked where he had heard his name from other than Remy. He watched the two friends play with abandon and it put a smile on Aaron’s face. Spencer may be going through alot right now but somehow he knew things were going to get better for him and whenever he finally asked for help he knew he would be there for him.

He looked back and saw that Remy was smiling wickedly at him. “Since we keep meeting like dis’ I say it’s fate.”

Aaron knew he was going to hell. “Maybe.” He smiled.

“Well what can you do about fate?” Aaron was kicking himself for flirting back. He should not be doing this.

Remy moved into his space once again, “Y’ got ta’ leave soon?”

“Not till morning.”

“Den we got all night.” Aaron inwardly cursed himself as he took Remy’s outstretched hand and let himself be led away. He definitely knew he was going to hell for giving into this temptation but if he was going to be damned for one night with Remy, then so be it.

* * *

 

**He was my everything, and I lost him. He was my heart and my soul.


	13. Criminal Minds - Eureka

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Title** : No title  
>  **Fandom** : Criminal Minds, Eureka  
>  **Series** : The Ways of Aaron Hotchner  
>  **Year** : 2012  
>  **Tags** : Slash, Loss, Alternate Time-Line, Grief  
>  **Ratings** : PG-13  
>  **Pairings** : Aaron Hotchner/Nathan Stark  
>  **Characters** : Aaron Hotchner, Spencer Reid, Derek Morgan, David Rossi, Jennifer Jareau, Penelope Garcia, Nathan Stark, Jack Carter, Zoe Carter, Jack Hotchner  
>  **Summary** : Aaron got very, very drunk one night shortly after Haley’s death and got in an argument with Assistant Director John Marrow. He was busted down and sent to Eureka to do an oversight on the town. He knew what it was, punishment for his actions. He wasn’t expecting Nathan Stark. And when he lost him in the accident it shattered him completely. He went back to DC to heal with his friends around him. When he came back a few months later Nathan was alive and Aaron was extremely confused.  
>  **Words** : 378  
>  **Warnings** : Major Character Canonical Death, Temporary Death  
>  **Beta** : None

Nathan stepped into the machine and turned around to see Aaron being held back by Carter and Joe. The man was begging him to not to do what he set out to do. The anguish on his lovers face almost made Nathan falter, but he could see what the time loop was doing to Carter. He didn’t know what this was going to do to Aaron but he felt he had no choice. The door clicked shut and his fate was now sealed.

                “ _NATHAN,”_ Aaron screamed as Carter followed him to the floor holding the broken man. Nathan’s eyes met the sheriffs and he mouthed _take care of him_. Carter tried not to let his emotions show and just nodded yes to the man who, even though they butted heads, somehow along the way they had become friends. When Nathan set the machine to rights and his atoms scattered Aaron broke down in Carter’s arms.

“ _NOOOOO,”_ Aaron screamed as he broke out of Carters hold and launched himself at the machine beating on it like the day he had beaten on George Foyet. His hands bloody he slid down and slumped against the machine as his heart broke. Carter and Joe stood there, not knowing what to do for the sobbing broken man.

“Aaron, come on,” Carter got down next to Aaron and put his arms around his shoulders he got the man up off the floor and steered him into the infirmary. Closing in on himself he curled up on the bed and completely shut down.

Carter knew that more than one person was going to be broken that day. He had no idea how he was going to tell Allison. It was supposed to be his wedding but not now, not with this happening around him. Closing his eyes he left GD and made his way to the tent that Allison was using as her staging area. The moment he came in the tent she knew something was wrong.

“Jack, you aren’t supposed to be in here,” She smiled softly as she looked her fiancé up and down. “Jack, what’s going on? Why aren’t you dressed?” Allison watched as Carter moved to sit next to her, taking her hands in his he tells her what happened.


	14. Criminal Minds - Firefly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Title** : No title  
>  **Fandom** : Criminal Minds, Firefly  
>  **Series** : The Ways of Aaron Hotchner  
>  **Year** : 2518  
>  **Tags** : Slash, Violence, Secrets  
>  **Ratings** : PG-13  
>  **Pairings** : Aaron Hotchner/Malcolm Reynolds, Spencer Reid/River Tam, Kaylee Frye/Simon Tam  
>  **Characters** : Aaron Hotchner, Spencer Reid, Malcolm Reynolds, Jayne Cobb, Inara Serra, Kaylee Frye, Zoe Washburn, River Tam, Simon Tam  
>  **Summary** : Aaron is on the run from the Alliance and his father’s men. His ship is destroyed and now he needs work and a crew. He finds the Serenity needs a new pilot. He convinces Mal to give him and chance and the two men recognize the simmering violence in each other. Their relationship is tumultuous at best but when Aaron’s father tries to come after him it will test the bond that has been growing between them.  
>  **Words** : 2148  
>  **Warnings** : Major Character Canonical Death  
>  **Beta** : None

"Spencer, do you see them? All the pretty strings holding you up?" River has a wide smile on her face as her hands dance in the air.

 "I can't see them like you do but I understand Quantum entanglement. It explains wormholes and how the ship can achieve hyper drive. Did you know that scientists were talking about string theory and quantum entanglement back in the early 21st century?" Aaron just smiled behind his napkin while everyone else at the table stopped eating and stared.

"You actually understand her?" Simon’s eyes were huge as he watched the two of them. 

"Well yeah, don't you?" As if on cue the other occupants at the table shook their heads.

 "Un un." Aaron couldn't help it he burst out laughing at their shocked expressions.

“Just how smart is your brother Aaron?” Simon was watching the new pilot wondering just who he really was.

“Not that he likes talking about it but he has an IQ well over 225, actually I think he was holding back on the test and is probably equal to River. Let’s just say I passed the Alliance bar on the first try and it took me only 5 hours to take the test. The normal is usually 8 – 10 hours. It’s very intensive and many taking it usually break it up into two days. I didn’t need two days. Spencer, if he had wanted to, could have passed the test in less than two hours.”

“So you’re some kind of lawyer?” Mal had stopped eating and started scrutinizing the new crew member.

“Was,” Aaron went back to eating as he thought back to the day that everything changed.

“Aaron,” Spencer’s face was full of guilt as he still felt responsible for what happened.

“Spence, it’s okay it wasn’t your fault,” Aaron placed a hand on his arm and Spencer ducked his head and started eating again, but this time slower with more measured movements.

“Wanna tell us what did happen?”

Aaron put his fork down, wiped his mouth, took a drink of water to clear his throat then began their story.

“I left the Alliance, didn’t believe in their politics so I bought a ship and started to practice on the fringe. I went anywhere and everywhere, made a decent living, well, got by anyway. I had an urgent call from someone I had helped defend against her abusive husband. She had someone that she thought might need my help. When I landed on her planet, it looked like there was a Reaver attack. I had a speeder stashed in my ship and after I landed hopped on it and started to look for survivors. The only one I found was a boy no more than ten, trapped in rubble. His parents, well, you know what happens during a Reaver attack. I was surprised the boy was still alive. I got him dug out, took him to my ship and haven’t looked back.”

“So, the boy ain’t really yer brother.” Jayne smirked at Aaron as he leaned towards him threateningly. Aaron hardened his expression and glared at Jayne.

“Mr. Cobb, just because you can handle a firearm does not make you a marksman and just because you can hit a man does not make you a fighter. If you want to challenge me, you _better_ be sure you can win because I can assure you that you won’t. You want to know why? I went into law for one reason and one reason only. My father is Jackson Ridley Hotchner.”

“The Assassin?” Mal jumped up from his chair and stared angrily at his new pilot.

“Yes, the assassin. You see Mr. Cobb, my father was a real bastard. My mother died from a rather virulent strain of cancer. I’m not wholly unconvinced that my father didn’t somehow give it to her. One of his specialties was concentrated biological assassinations. But, he learned everything, every way possible to kill. From the time I was five years old I was trained. So, you want to pick a fight with me?”

Jayne stood and leaned on the table looking Aaron in the eye. “Anytime.”

Aaron didn’t flinch, slowly he stood and before anyone could actually stop him he was over the table, knife in his hand and had Jayne in a headlock with the knife pressing against his thigh.

“You want to know why I don’t have this knife pressed to your neck? Because the good Doctor over there could heal a neck wound very easily. I could also threaten to slice open your stomach, but it’s sloppy and I really don’t want to get blood on my suit. Now, the thigh, if I so much as nick it in just the right way you’d bleed out in seconds. Also it’s close to the groin and if I were to cut you in the joint between your thigh and your dick, this too could cause you to bleed out rather quickly. Actually there are several ways I could kill you right now.”

 Aaron let the man go and gracefully stood and glared at the man. “But, Mal needs you. You Jayne Cobb are a blunt instrument. I’m sure you can take a lot of damage and for a ship that takes on the types of jobs you do; a blunt instrument is quite valuable. What I am, is a scalpel. Swift, precise and if Mal is ever in need of my services, I am more than willing to give them. But, and I sincerely mean this,” Aaron took a step towards Jayne who took a step back from the man, “I never want to hear you say that Spencer isn’t my brother. I don’t want to see you bully him, ridicule him, say anything cruel or mean about him. In fact, don’t even look wrong at him or you will know just how far my father’s training went.”

“Jayne, I suggest you back off now.” Mal’s hand immediately went to the pistol he had currently riding his thigh holster.

“This ain’t over.”

Aaron quirked the side of his mouth and the look he gave Jayne was very deadly. “Oh believe me Mr. Cobb, it had better be.”

Aaron took his seat at the table and started eating again. After taking another long drink of water he looked over the other occupants of the table.

“Do you want to hear the rest?”

Mal nudged Jayne to sit at the end of the table, away from Aaron, then Mal sat directly in front of him. He was intrigued by the man who flew like a dream, wore a bespoke suit that cost more than his whole ship, and protected a kid like he really was his brother. He tried to not make his interest obvious but he thought he might be failing just a little. Inara looked at him with a quirk to her brow, which he chose to ignore.

“Please, continue.” Mal speared a potato on his fork and waived it at Aaron.

“I took Spencer on board my ship. Got him cleaned-up, some food and tried to get his story. He was a mess, who wouldn’t be after a vicious Reaver attack. Anyway, with my contact dead, I had no idea what she wanted. So, not knowing what to do I left. I needed more supplies and Spencer, I figured, needed clothes and other things. I headed to the nearest Alliance planet which was Ariel. Ironically, my home planet. Taking Spencer with me we shopped, stopped for lunch and were on our way back to my ship when some of my father’s men found me. I most certainly didn’t know what they wanted, but I agreed to go with them to see what was going on. I didn’t expect to find myself in the company of my father and two Interpol agents. Seems Spencer and his family had fled Lian Jiun when a man tried to go after Spencer. The boy was frightened and stayed very close to me and I knew that whoever was after him, it wasn’t good.”

“Your father has dealings with Interpol?”

“My father had many people in his pocket. Once a man named Adelai Niska tried to double-cross my father. Let’s just say it didn’t go well for Niska’s people. The most dangerous thing about my father is he doesn’t care about power, but he uses it to his advantage. He’s the Alliance’s weapon. They didn’t put him on trial, no they fucking recruited him. They saw value in his…services.” Aaron practically spat out.

“So what happened?”

“My father and I made a deal. I stay out of his way, he’ll stay out of mine and he will make sure no agent will come after the boy as long as he is alive. You see as much I hate my father, he, in his own twisted way, love’s me even more. An Alliance agent once tried to come after me when I helped a town on the fringe gain independence from the Alliance on their planet. A couple of days later that agent was found on the doorstep of the governor’s mansion on Londinium, flayed. No agent has even dared approach me since. If they want their assassin, they have to keep him happy, and me being alive and free, keeps him happy.”

“You are a very dangerous man to have around.”

“So are you Mal. You hold yourself back, but I see the look in your eye. Your smart but you often downplay it, why I wonder.” Aaron leaned forward

“No reason. So what did the kid do, then, to set attackers against you?” Mal tilted his head as he lifted the side of his mouth in a half-smile, his eyes sparkling with that touch of danger that he secretly craved. This man in front of him was dangerous and that just sparked something inside Mal.

Aaron smiled at Mal before pushing his plate away. He leaned in, but didn’t notice how all conversation stopped and everyone was staring at the two men, the air was suddenly thick with tension and it appeared as if the two men were locked in their own world, communicating on a level that no one was really understanding.

Aaron recognized the look in Malcolm Reynold’s eyes. He knew just how dangerous he could be, and he saw in Mal, that recognition of like to like.

“He has quite a snarky attitude, if you hadn’t noticed. It could be partially my fault for cultivating it. We were in a bar on a planet that straddles the border of the Alliance and the fringe. They were raising a toast to the Alliance and before I could stop him, he stands and he proceeds to lecture these men on just why the Alliance was evil. A fight broke out and before the local law could arrive myself and three other men were the last one’s standing. We made a hasty retreat but not before two Alliance ships followed me. One made it all the way here. We traded fire, my ship got destroyed and before they landed to take me and Spencer they were gone.”

“Your father?”

“Or someone close to him.”

“And that’s when you found us.”

Aaron smiled that wicked smile of his, “Exactly.”

Mal sat back, not fully understanding what had just happened between them but he finished his dinner then excused himself. Aaron did the same as got up he patted Spencer on the shoulder and told him not to stay up too late. He hadn’t been sleeping well and Aaron had gotten worried about him. There were several mornings though when he went to wake Spencer that he walked in on River, fully clothed mind you, was wrapped around Spencer, the two fast asleep. He often wondered about that, but was just glad that the boy was getting sleep. If the girl helped him, he didn’t see the harm in it. He was in his head, mulling this over when he found himself pushed against the wall and had a hard male body quite suddenly all over him. A hand gripped his hair as lips crashed against his and Aaron didn’t even try to stop it. He moaned low in his throat as his arms wrapped around that body currently assaulting him.

“Mal,” he finally pulled away enough to catch his breath, “What are you doing?”

“You do such strange this to me Aaron. I ain’t been interested in a man in a very long time, and I am very interested in you.”

“I didn’t take you for the aggressive type, and I thought you had eyes only for Inara?”

“What she and I have is…complicated. I find I don’t want something complicated.”

Reaching for the door behind him Aaron opened it and stumbled backwards inside pulling Mal with him. “Then let’s not make it complicated.”


	15. Criminal Minds - Harry Potter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Title** : No title  
>  **Fandom** : Criminal Minds, Harry Potter  
>  **Series** : The Ways of Aaron Hotchner  
>  **Year** : 1981, 1991  
>  **Tags** : Slash, Bonding, Magical Adoption, Soulmates, Canon-divergence, Ron bashing  
>  **Ratings** : PG-13,  
>  **Pairings** : Aaron Hotchner/Sirius Black, Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy/Hermione Granger  
>  **Characters** : Aaron Hotchner, Spencer Reid, Harry Potter, Jack Hotchner, Sirius Black, Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger  
>  **Summary** : Spencer was just a young boy when he was taken in by Aaron and Sirius. They had to hide him so Aaron adopts him into his magical house. The night Riddle rises and tries to kill Harry and his family Aaron runs with Spencer. Several days later Sirius finally shows up in America, with baby Harry. The two men raise Harry and when he gets his letter for Hogwarts, they go, all of them. Spencer becomes a teacher to help watch over his adopted brother. When he learns of Dumbledore’s manipulations, Aaron and Sirius get involved.  
>  **Words** : 2148  
>  **Warnings** : Major Character Canonical Death  
>  **Beta** : None

This story will be part of my RT project. Check back later for links.


	16. The Dragon Prophecy of Arcadius

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Title** : The Dragon Prophecy of Arcadius  
>  **Fandom** : Criminal Minds,  
>  **Series** : HxR Live Journal Prompt Memes  
>  **Year** :  
>  **Tags** : Slash, Dragons, Dragonrider!Aaron, Human Bonding, Dragon Bonding, Alternate Universe, Emily is Hotch’s Sister  
>  **Ratings** : NC17  
>  **Pairings** : Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid, Aaron Hotchner/Derek Morgan  
>  **Characters** : Aaron Hotchner, Spencer Reid, Derek Morgan, Jason Gideon, Jack Hotchner, Jaci (OFC), Ethan, Diana Reid, Jennifer Jareau, Emily Prentiss  
>  **Summary** : Aaron is the Captain of the Shattered Spire Battalion of Dragon Keep. On a routine patrol he feels something strange move through his magic, and so does his Dragon. When they follow it to its source they find a young man who has spontaneously bonded with a baby Dragon. Which, was impossible. There hadn’t been a rogue Dragon in centuries. Now Aaron has to take a reluctant Spencer back to Dragon keep to find out exactly what is going on.  
>  **Words** : 6330  
>  **Warnings** : None  
>  **Beta** : None

 

Aaron was standing on the tallest spire of Shattered Keep, the housing area of his dragon division. His long hair was wrapped in leather to keep it out of his eyes. His head he tilted up to the dual suns in the sky high above. He loved this, loved being at this high point, he was fearless and some, like the men and women in his division, call him reckless. He smiled wide as he extended his arms then jumped. Yelling out his absolute joy as the wind blew around him and the suns warmed his back, he fell.  A moment later he was landing on the back of his large black dragon Persephone.

“Morning ‘Seph,” he smiled as he took the reins and steered her higher, using both body and mind to lead her where he wanted her to go.

“Morning foolish boy,” she chuckled softly knowing that she was never going to be able to break him of his wild reckless behavior.

“I am neither foolish nor am I a boy ‘Seph. I haven’t been for a long time.”

“No, and you still refuse to choose a mate. Your sister keeps complaining to me about it.” The Dragon spread her enormous black wings and on the next updraft she let them float along. “What is your patrol for today Aar?”

“Southward towards the Sharia River then follow the river till we get to Solomon’s Keep. Lord Devon will have lunch ready for us. He claims there is some unusual activity near the keep and Jonas wants us to check it out. We are going to meet-up with Emily and Daemon when we get there.”

“Oh?” If Aaron didn’t know any better he would think his dragon was blushing, but he did know better and the slight rumble that went through her was as close to what would be considered a blush as dragons were capable of.

“Still have a crush on my sister’s dragon ‘Seph?”

“No, it is not that.” Persephone huffed and Aaron laughed a deep hearty laugh. 

“So, what were you saying about _me_ taking a mate?”

“You know I like it better when you are in one of your composed stoic moods, let us just pretend you are not in this very strange joyful mood and I will not bother you about a mate.” Aaron shook his head as he stroked the top of her head soothing her.

“Now you know what its like _shushou_.” Aaron was one of the few dragonriders in his division that could truly speak the language of the dragons. Persephone had taught him as a boy and although all dragonriders could understand the language, not all could speak it.

Leaning more forward he stretched out and stroked her snout, calming his dragon down. “We will both find them when we are ready.” 

“That I am most certain we will.”

“And you will have beautiful children that I will be happy to be their patron, you know this Persephone. They will always be safe in my care till they are ready to bond with their riders.”

“I know Aaron, but for now we are both young and free.” She rumbled as she dived again cresting on the wave of a large updraft. They were flying for an hour, Aaron’s intelligent eyes cataloguing everything around them. He felt a pull but wasn’t sure what it meant so he ignored it for now. It was a few moments later when Persephone was slowing down quite a bit and gently flapping her large wings she started to hover where she was.

“What is it ‘Seph?”

“I don’t know. I felt a pull slightly to the east. It feels like a young dragon, but it can’t be. There hasn’t been a rogue in a very long time.”

“Maybe we should go check it out. I felt a pull also but I wasn’t sure what it was. You lead ‘Seph.” Aaron leaned down even more as his dragon started a descent closer towards the ground, she pulled out of the dive and headed in an easterly direction. Both rider and dragon hoping this wasn’t going to be a foolish decision on their part.

___________________________________________________________________________

“Mom, I am not going to apprentice to the blacksmith, that’s final.”

“Spencer, you know you have to find an apprenticeship somewhere. I can’t keep you here buried in books.”

“It isn’t that Mom. You know I want to go to the Scribe’s college.”

“Honey, you know we can’t afford it. The college is just too expensive.”

“Mom, I’ve already sent a letter to the headmaster, they are willing to put me on scholarship, at least for the first year. If I prove myself, I’ll be able to get a patron and have enough money for the rest of my education.”

“I don’t like it Spencer. I’ve heard a lot of stories about those patrons and what they like to do to the boys and girls they enslave.”

“Mom, we are not going over this again. A patron doesn’t enslave their sponsored, it doesn’t work that way.” Spencer growled out in frustration. His mother’s delusions were getting worse every year and Spencer didn’t know what to do about it anymore.

“Honey, I just want you safe and in a good place.”

“No, you want me here doing something you know I’m not interested in and you know I won’t be good at just so you can keep me with you. I can’t stay anymore Mom. I need to find what’s best for me. Now I have my rounds to make. I have several customers that want my services. I’ll be back later.” Spencer stomped out the door of his small house and made his way to the baker’s. He knew his mother was sick but it wasn’t a sickness that any of the healers could help with. They all, at great expense, had told him the same thing. His mother’s illness was in her mind. No potions she had taken had helped, but Spencer knew he couldn’t live his life for her anymore. He wanted to branch out, to learn and he had the chance at the Scribes College. He just had to take it. He was deep in thought as he entered the small open bakery at the edge of the village.

“Ah, young Spencer. I was worried you forgot our appointment.”

“No Mr. Gideon. I just had a fight with Mom. She wants me to forget about the scholarship Headmaster Hayden has offered. She wants me to apprentice with Derek. I mean, yeah he’s my best friend but I’m no blacksmith.”

“Son, you cannot help your mother anymore. She is lost to her mind sickness. I wish it was different for you Spencer.”

“I know. I don’t’ want to talk about that. What did you need me to do?”

“I need several letters taken down. I will pay in both gold and bread.”

“Okay, let’s get started.” Spencer spent about an hour taking down the letters that Gideon wanted. When he was done he was given 3 gold pieces and a bag of bread. He had other clients that wanted similar and by the time he was headed back home the basket he had taken with him was full. He had bread, vegetables, some meat bones to make a soup, a couple of chickens and the total of about 5 gold. It had been a very productive and lucrative day.

Spencer was lost in his head as he was walking home, which wasn’t an unusual thing for him. He could be caught wandering the forest for hours if he wasn’t careful. He stopped sometime later and realized that he wasn’t anywhere near home. He had gotten so lost in his head that he was on his way to the Heartsea Cave. He had wandered almost three miles away from home.

“Well, damn.” He huffed as he walked over to the cave entrance and sat down. It wasn’t that he was that far from the village but it was far enough that it would take a while to get back. He reached into the bag with the bread and pulled out a sweet bread that he knew Gideon had put in there just for him. He chuckled softly to himself and shook his head as he munched on it trying to decide what to do.

He was thinking over the college when he heard some sounds coming from inside the cave. Setting the bread down he slowly walked towards the sounds, frowning as he did. As he got closer he heard some strange snuffling sounds.

“Hello?” Spencer called out as he started to get closer to the sound. “Hello? Is anyone there?” Before he could take another step something came at him fast and knocked into him making them both drop to the ground..

“Nyah.” The thing that came at him made those sounds again.

It took a moment for Spencer to figure out what it was that had knocked him over. 

“What…the…hell…” Spencer reached out to the little dragon that was sitting on his chest snuffling at him. Spencer reached a hand out and touched one of it’s wings. When he did the dragon immediately wrapped itself around his hand. Smiling Spencer sat up and held the little creature close to him. As he made more physical contact with the dragon he felt something settling low in his belly. It was a warmth that he hadn’t ever felt before and as he held the dragon more it grew bigger within him. When he held his hand up in front of his face he saw a faint glow. 

“Nyah.” The dragon cried out again. Spencer stood up on shaky legs then walked back out of the cave. He sat down with the basket of food and reached in for a piece of fruit and a piece of vegetable. He wasn’t quite sure what it was that the little creature ate. Holding the food out in one hand while he held the dragon in the other he waited. He watched as the dragon sniffed at both of the pieces of food then dip it’s head down and take the small bite out of  fruit chomping on it. It let out a low rumble in contentment as it snuggled back into him and continued eating. When it was done it curled up closer to Spencer and made soft rumbling sounds.

Spencer chucked, “What am I going to do with you?” Spencer asked as he stood with the creature in his arms. Sighing he pulled out a couple of the bags out of the basket and set the dragon down in it. He knew it had to have a mother and the only dragons in Arcadius were up at the Dragon Keep. He was trying to figure out how to get the little dragon back to where it belonged as he started to walk back towards home. 

Dragon Keep was more than seven days on horseback but Spencer didn’t have the money for one, which meant he had to walk. Then it dawned on him that the Scribe College wasn’t that far from Dragon’s Keep which meant if he left in the next day or two he would be right on time for classes to start. Making plans in his head he was determined that he was going to start out on his own. Even over the protests of his mother. He knew he just couldn’t care for her anymore. He had been saving up money from his little business that there was enough for her to live on for about a year without him. He would talk to Derek and see if he would keep an eye on his mother, at least for the first year he was away.

He was almost to home when a large black dragon settled just outside the village and a tall, very handsome and muscular man started to walk towards him. He had a smile on his face that made Spencer’s stomach flip.

“Good meet young man. I am Aaron, second son of Marcus, first Dragon division and Captain of the Shattered Spire Dragon fleet. May I ask your name?”

“Oh, I ah, I’m Spencer.”

“Spencer.” The man smiled again as he got closer to Spencer. “Have you seen any unusual activity in the area lately? My dragon, Persephone and I were on our way to Solomon’s keep and we felt drawn to this area.”

“Nyah, nyah.” Spencer looked up and held the basket he had close to him.

“Common _shushou_ not everyone speaks dragon.” Spencer heard Aaron say as he bent towards the basket. The baby lifted it’s head but didn’t try to say anything else. Aaron remarked in his head on the unusual silver coloring and the deep blood red eyes. It made him wonder who the parents were.

“Has she told you her name yet Spencer?” Aaron asked as he straightened up and looked at Spencer.

“Um, no. How do you know it’s a she?”

Aaron sighed and knew there was going to be a lot to teach this young man and in a short-time.

“Why don’t we have this conversations somewhere more comfortable. Is there a pub in this village?”

“I ah, I don’t really got to the pub.” Spencer ducked his head and long tendrils of curls fell in his face. He couldn’t quit help the blush that creeped up his face as he looked through the curtain of his hair.

“Okay, somewhere else then?” Aaron wanted to reach out and brush the curls aside so he could see those hazel eyes once again.

“We could go to my house. I need to take these things to my mom.”

Aaron picked up the two sacks that Spencer had been carrying along with the basket, “Okay lead the way.”

Spencer led Aaron to the small house that he and his mother shared. It wasn’t large but it fit their needs perfectly. He felt slightly embarrassed as he led the dragon rider inside for surely he was used to better accommodations. This was the captain of the famed Shattered Spire riders and Spencer’s home was very humble.

“I am impressed by your village Spencer. Though it is quite out of the way I see the signs of prosperity everywhere.”

“We’re on the edge of some of the best hunting grounds that the Tamriel forest has to offer. Our Mayor gives season passes as we help regulate so that there is no depletion of any hunting animals. We have three inns that cater to the hunters and trappers that come in during the thawing season. They hunt and catch to their allotment then leave by the warming season. They bring a lot of gold into the village and it is often enough to get us through the frost when we are almost completely cut-off.”

By the time he was done Aaron was smiling at him again with that smile that warmed his belly. Spencer didn’t know how to react to it so he just didn’t say anything else till they arrived at his house a moment later.

“Mom, I’m back.” Spencer called out as they entered.

“Spencer. I was getting worried. Thought you’d been carried off by the rider’s or something.” She crossed her arms and raised her brows at her son.

“Mom,” Spencer huffed out his exasperation with her. Then turned to introduce the man next to him. “This is Aaron. He’s the captain of the Shattered Spire Dragon Riders. Please be nice.”

“Hello Aaron. So is this the nice way of saying you are stealing my son away and making him fight in some useless battle?”

Aaron wasn’t offended. He could immediately tell that something wasn’t quite right with Spencer’s mother. He softened his expression and smiled softly as he answered her.

“No ma’am. He was just protecting a stray that had gotten away from us.” Aaron pointed to the baby dragon currently wrapped around Spencer’s neck.

“Spencer, where did you get that dragon? You give it right back to this man right now.” 

“I wandered up past Singer’s Pass and ended up at the Heartsea Cave. She just came at me as I sat down for a minute.”

“Spencer, you know that area is dangerous. The Banshee that roams could come down and hurt you.”

Spencer closed his eyes a moment to steel himself against his mother’s delusions.

“Mom, we’ve had this conversation. Banshee’s aren’t real. I was perfectly safe.” Spencer turned in a huff then went about setting the food in his small stores as he watched out of the corner of his eye his mother and Aaron eyeing each other. The tension in the house was just too much.

“You know what? I changed my mind. Why don’t we go for a walk? There’s a little time before I have to start dinner.” Spencer shuffled his feet a little as he took the money he had made and put it inside a locked box. Aaron peaked inside and was impressed by how much was there. Spencer could see the curiosity on Aaron’s face but noticed also how he didn’t ask questions. At least not right now. He picked up his satchel and slung it around his shoulders and left the house once again. He motioned for Aaron to follow. The baby dragon didn’t move once, just shifted a little and wrapped her tail loosely around Spencer’s neck.

Once they were outside and away from the house Aaron turned to Spencer, “Can you show me the cave where you found her?”

“Of course, follow me.” Spencer started up the trail not really paying attention if Aaron was following or not. It didn’t take long before he was stopping in front of the cave and explaining to Aaron what happened. 

Aaron bent down and looked inside the cave. It was dark and he startled Spencer when his hands filled with fire.

“My mother was a mage. I spent five years at the Mage’s College after I turned thirteen. Between the dragon bonding and my own heritage I had too much untrained power. My father didn’t want me to hurt anyone by accident so he sent me for training.”

Spencer had never met a mage and he looked at Aaron with a little awe. “Do you like having that kind of power?” Spencer asked as they slowly made their way through the cave.

“I’ve accepted it more than anything and I am careful how I use it. It has come in handy during battle but I don’t flaunt it either. It’s more just a part of who I am.”

Spencer wondered at his words as they got closer and closer towards the rear of the cave. Not paying attention to where he was going he practically ran into the older man when he had stopped in front of him.

“What’s wrong?” Spencer whispered to Aaron.

“How did this happen?” Aaron said to no one in particular. He approached the body of the dragon laying on the cave floor, dead, and fell to his knees. He cradled her head in his lap and silent tears fell from his eyes. Spencer didn’t know what to do or how to comfort the man.

“What happened to you sweetheart? Where’s your rider?” Aaron spent a few minutes softly stroking her snout as the pain of loss of such a beautiful creature pierced through his heart.

Spencer wasn’t wholly unaffected as he reached up and stroked the baby currently wrapped around his neck. He watched as Aaron stood and lifted the fire in his hand so that there was more light to see by. Slowly he walked around the dragon and Spencer waited patiently for him to finish. When he heard the sharp intake of breath he moved to stand where Aaron was, his eyes widened in shock.

“Two more?” Spencer asked as he looked down at the dragon eggs.

“This is exceedingly rare. Most females don’t lay more than two and that is very uncommon. She had three.” Spencer saw the fury on the rider’s face but wasn’t sure how to help him. He was brought out of his thoughts when Aaron shoved a dragon egg into his hands.

“Come on. Let’s get out of here.” Aaron walked out cradling the egg but Spencer could feel the anger pouring off of him.

“Aaron, is there anything I can do to help?”

“Not at the moment. Not unless you know someone who would be willing to camp out and guard the cave for a few days while I finish my original business then go back to Dragon Keep and some of my people come back and take care of her properly.”

“I might know a couple of people. I could ask them to come to dinner. I just don’t have enough food for everyone.”

“Do you have a butcher and a baker in your village?”

“Yeah. I ah I could take you to the baker first.”

For the second time that day Spencer was walking into Gideon’s bakery. The man looked up and smiled at him then he looked behind Spencer to the man hovering behind him and his smile grew even wider.

“Aaron,” Gideon practically yelled as he came out from behind his counter and grabbed the taller man in a hug.

“Gideon, so this is where you disappeared to, though I didn’t see Aria anywhere?”

“She’s probably making her way here to take me home. I have a house and a very comfortable enclosure for her, though more often she’s up in the hills, even though she knows I can’t climb anymore.”

Spencer stood there in shock, his mouth gaping open and it took him a moment to find his voice again.

“You, you were a dragon rider?”

“Yes. For almost twenty-seven years. It came time for me to retire and I don’t regret it. Though Aria berates me daily for leaving the keep.” Gideon chuckled as he looked back at Spencer. “Spence, where did you get a baby dragon?”

Spencer quickly re-told the story of what happened when he had wandered off to the cave. The baby dragon stirred from it’s sleep and stood up on Spencer’s shoulder.

“Nyah.” She said that word again as she sniffed the air around her.

“Spencer you need to start making her speak common. She may only be a few days old but dragons are born knowing how to speak several languages. She’s currently trying to get away with speaking dragon only.”

“What do I do?”

“For now, you ignore her.”

Spencer tried to ignore the little thing as she kept trying to get his attention. When he kept talking to Aaron and Gideon and didn’t pay her any more attention she flew in front of his face.

“Nyah,” the baby dragon demanded. Spencer gently pushed her to the side but his face flushed with guilt. 

“Nyah,” she huffed out in frustration.

“You are doing good Spencer. Until she can speak common, keep ignoring her.”

“But Aaron, it’s so hard.” He looked over at her and the face she made had Spencer’s heart melting.

“Don’t give in. Seriously Spencer, this is an important lesson for you both.”

The little silver dragon kept trying to get his attention and Spencer kept ignoring her. When she flew right in his face, wiggling her tail she breathed in deep and just as she was about to blow in his face Spencer turned towards her and glared.

“Sylvan, no.” Spencer startled himself by the tone in his voice and by the fact that he knew her name. The dragon also stopped and widened her eyes at him. “If you can’t speak to me in common, don’t speak to me at all.” He crossed his arms and waited for her to figure out what she was going to do.

“‘Penner, mine?” Sylvan flew to his shoulder and slumped down. Spencer felt through their bond that she was sulking.

“Yes Syl, I am yours.” Spencer didn’t know where that came from but the rumbling he felt from the dragon filled his heart with joy. He didn’t understand why this little creature meant so much to him in such a short time.

“‘Penner mine,” Sylvan said softer as she curled up on his shoulder once more.

“Well, now we know she’s a beta.”

“What? How do you know that?”

“I’ll explain when we get back to your house.” Aaron turned back to Gideon once again, “Do you still make those round loaves that we would use for stew?”

Gideon smiled as he moved to one of his shelves that had the last of the day’s breads. “Here you go. I have eight of them left, and I’ll give them all to you but only charge you for four.”

“Gideon, you don’t have to do that. I can afford to pay you full price.”

“I am well aware Aaron, but you can take the leftovers on your patrol.”

“Do you want to come with us tomorrow Gideon? I believe Devon would be glad to see you. Emily will be there as well.”

“Let me think on it. Will you be staying the night?”

“It is getting pretty late and I don’t like flying at night so yes. I’ll just camp out and let Persephone hunt for her dinner.”

“Then I will find you in the morning and let you know.”

They said their goodbye’s and Spencer then led him to the local butcher. They arrived just in time as he was closing up shop for the evening. Aaron was able to buy some topaz deer and cotton top meat. With some of the vegetables in his pack he could make a nice stew for everyone.

“Um Aaron, what did you mean by us?” Spencer looked over at the rider with a little fear in his eyes.

“Well, you are coming with me Spencer. I can’t leave you here untrained. You need to come with me to the keep to learn about the bond between you and your dragon. It’s unbreakable Spencer. Once the dragon chooses you the two of you have a lifelong bond.”

“What? I can’t go to the keep. I, I, I can’t ride.”

Aaron smiled over at the younger man and watched his face drain of all color.

“Spencer, you don’t have a choice. Your bond will demand for you to learn to ride together when she’s older. You have time, it’ll give you time to learn her needs and what she is destined for.”

“Destined for?” Spencer squeaked out as they walked up to Persephone. 

“Yes, every dragon is born with many talents. You just have to learn what Sylvan’s talents are going to be. Take ‘Seph here, her talents are not only flying but she is a very skilled fighter and scout. She can see much farther than the average dragon. We both also know field healing. She can heal minor injuries on other dragons and she has a little bit of magic.”

“Wow, so she’s what, an Alpha?”

“Exactly. Here hold this.” Aaron handed the packages of food to Spencer who slipped them in his satchel. Aaron took off the riding saddle and slung it over his shoulder. “Okay ‘Seph. We are camping here for the night, go hunt for yourself, I’ve got my dinner covered.”

“Okay Aar. I’ll just sleep up on that ridge over there. We will move on in the morning?”

“Yes and Spencer is going to be coming with us. And, maybe a surprise.”

Persephone narrowed her eyes at her rider and tried to figure out what was going on. “You will just have to wait and see.” Aaron shook his head and he patted her side before she huffed out her frustration.

“Come on take me back to your house and I will make you and your mother dinner. And if you know someone who can watch over the cave invite them over and we’ll talk.”

Spencer frowned at the older man and he stomped away from him. He didn’t like being ordered around but things were happening so fast around him that he hadn’t been able to catch his breath. He took Aaron back to his house and showed him the small kitchen area and let him start on dinner while he talked to him mom telling her to let the man cook. 

Aaron just smiled to himself as he worked on getting a meal together waiting for Spencer to come back. He knew he was going to have to be a bit of a bully to get Spencer to do what needed to be done, he just hoped that the young man eventually understood and didn’t end up hating him.

________________________________________________________________________

Spencer had brought two of his friends Derek, the blacksmith, and Ethan, the butcher. The five of them were seated around the table set off to the side of the kitchen. The bread round Aaron had scooped out the insides and poured the thick stew in. The excess bread he crumbled up and used it as a thickener in the stew. Everyone was enjoying the food and the lively conversation when Aaron sat back and cleared his throat.

“Spencer tells me that the two of you, Derek and Ethan, might be willing to camp out near the Heartsea Cave till I can have a few of my men come and take care of the dragon that lies in the cave currently.”

Derek smiled wide at Aaron as he leaned forward, his dark skin glowing against the fire light currently burning just above them.

“Oh I am more than willing to help you out,” Derek’s deep silky voice had caught Aaron’s attention when they were first introduced and he knew the blacksmith was laying it on a little thicker.

“Then I’m glad you’re here. It should only be a few days and the keep will compensate you both for your time.”

Derek smiled again, “I don’t need gold dragon rider, there are other ways to...give thanks?”

Spencer rolled his eyes and he and Ethan just looked at each other in amusement. Aaron and Derek had been flirting back and forth with each other all night. Spencer, though, didn’t know why it upset him. He barely knew Aaron but he felt somehow dismissed in the rider’s mind. 

“Oh really?” Aaron curled up the sides of his mouth as he felt a hand on his thigh a moment later. 

“Mm hmm. I bet I can show you a very good time. Have you visited the pub yet? They have a very good ale.”

“No, I haven't. Spencer said he didn’t like going to the pub, but if you’d like to get a drink I am very free.”

“Then let me buy you a drink and we can...talk.” Derek stood and squeezed Aaron’s arm before he grabbed his empty bowl and put it in the large bucket with water used to wash the dishes.

“I will meet you there, just want to clear up a couple of things with Ethan and Spencer.”

“I’ll get a table and order a couple of pints.” Derek bent down and took Aaron’s mouth in a hard sensual kiss. He stood then sauntered out the door.

“Your friend is rather forward, isn’t he?” Aaron couldn’t help how his eyes stayed for a moment on Derek’s retreating form.

“Yes and I don’t see you refusing him.” Spencer sat back and crossed his arms.

Aaron just smiled at the younger man before he turned to Ethan, “As I was saying it will only be for a few days and the men I send will have compensation for your time.”

“That’s fine. I’m glad to do it to be honest. Are you really going to take Spencer with you?”

“Yes, I am. Spencer, don’t okay? You need training, you have no idea what it takes to raise a dragon. You haven’t lived your life in the keep like most riders have. Or like the ones who come to the academy hoping to bond with the older dragons that didn’t find someone to bond with as younglings. If, after you know how to take care of Sylvan, you want to leave, it is your right. But, know that she will still fly with or without you. It is imperative for them to fly, not just for their physical health but their mental health as well.” Aaron could see the frustration on Spencer’s face but he needed to make the young man understand what he had gotten himself into.

“Fine, but I reserve the right to leave when I know enough that I can take care of her without you.”

“And you will have that right.” Aaron sighed deeply as he stood and put his bowl in the water as well then headed out to the pub after Spencer told him how to find it.

“I think you have a crush on the sexy dragon rider Spence.”

“No I don’t.”

“Yes, I think you do and as much as you want to protest you are going to go with him. And not just to learn about Dragons.”

“Shut-up Ethan.” Spencer shook his head then stood, “I’m going to go to bed. I’ll clean-up in the morning Mom, okay?”

“Okay honey. Goodnight.” Ethan also stood-up saying his good nights to both Spencer and Diana then headed out the door. Spencer climbed the stairs to his bed in the loft, and lit the oil lamp on the side of his bed as he took out a set of scrolls he had been reading the last few days. He closed his eyes and slowly fell asleep with Sylvan wrapped up in a ball on his pillow next to him. Thoughts of Aaron slowly drifted in and out of his mind and he wondered just what it meant that he was thinking of the man as he fell asleep.

________________________________________________________________________

Spencer woke in the middle of the night having to relieve himself. After he had finished he tried to silently make his way back inside the house when he heard some urgent sounds coming from the direction of Aaron’s camp. He tried to stay quiet as he slowly approached, hoping nothing was wrong. When he stopped just near the edge of Aaron’s camp and saw the open tent he scrambled behind the closest tree trying to make as little noise as possible. When he peaked back around, what he saw made his eyes widen and his breath quicken. He knew he should probably leave but he didn’t he was too mesmerized by the scene playing out in front of him.

Spencer watched the two very naked men writhing and moving together, urgent noises spilling rapidly from both of them. He couldn’t move not for anything in the world. He watched as his best friend moved fast in and out of the handsome dragon rider.

“Fuck Aaron, so tight,” Spencer heard Derek growl as he kept up the brutal pace. Aaron was saying something but he couldn’t quite make out his words. He watched as Derek jerked one more time and stilled, grunting as he was plastered against the man beneath him. He pulled out then bent down kissing Aaron. This went on for several minutes then Derek pulled back and looked down at Aaron.

“Not done with you. Gonna ride you now Dragon rider.” Derek straddled Aaron’s waist then reached behind him and guided the hard cock inside his already slick hole. Spencer could see everything because the fire near the tent must have been re-kindled at some point during the night. Spencer had just enough light to see them by.

Aaron grunted as he wrapped his hands around Derek’s waist thrusting his hips up as Derek moved up and down on him. Spencer couldn’t help the tightness he felt in his own groin. He pushed his pants down off of him and freed his own hard aching cock. Using his own spit, he took his cock in his hand and started stroking in time to the men he was watching. He saw Derek reach around and untie something from around Aaron’s cock and whatever it was it made the other man growl as he thrust his hips up making Derek’s head fall back in what looked like ecstasy. Spencer knew first-hand what Derek’s hands felt like. There was a time or two that the two of them had shared stolen moments in the night with Derek stroking him making him come. He wasn’t in love with Derek, not by any means but they weren’t shy about sharing intimacy with each other.

Spencer slumped against the tree as he stroked himself faster, his other hand he had against his mouth trying to stay as quiet as he could. He watched as Aaron stroked Derek all over then finally wrapping his hand around Derek’s cock. Spencer imagined that it was his erection that Aaron was taking in hand as he furiously stroked himself harder and faster. When he looked back he groaned as he watched the two men who had obviously reached their climax. Seeing their bodies bowing, and their heads thrown back with muffled cries Spencer couldn’t help but find his own release spilling against the tree he was slumped against. 

Panting hard he looked back up as Derek lay next to Aaron the two men, in a tangle of arms and legs started to fall asleep. Spencer didn’t understand the deep ache that had filled his heart and why he desperately wanted to be the one lying next to the dragon rider. He watched for a moment more then pulled up his own pants and made his way back home.

As soon as he entered the house he grabbed a cloth and poured a little water from the jug over it before he made his way to his bed in the loft of the house. He took off his pants and cleaned himself up then collapsed down on the bed. 


	17. The Sacrifice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Title** : The Sacrifice  
>  **Fandom** : Criminal Minds, Hellblazer  
>  **Year** : 2007  
>  **Tags** : Threesome, M/F/M, Loss, Grief, Alternate Universe, Magic, Resurrection  
>  **Ratings** : PG-13  
>  **Pairings** : Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid/Haley Hotchner, Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid  
>  **Characters** : Aaron Hotchner, Spencer Reid, Jack Hotchner, John Constantine, Derek Morgan, Penelope Garcia, JJ Jareau, David Rossi, Will La Montagne Jr., Chas Chandler  
>  **Spoilers** :  
>  **Summary** : Haley’s is dead. Her mates are still trying to come to terms with the loss of her in their bond. The man who helped get her killed is now asking the BAU for help. Aaron wants to say no to John Constantine because whenever his involved someone he cares about gets hurt. But, people are dying, being ritually sacrificed and her know’s he can’t let it continue. He agrees to help, with surprising results.  
>  **Words** : 2640  
>  **Warnings** : Canonical Character Death  
>  **Beta** : None

Reid stormed into the bullpen, threw his bag down, and stalked off to the kitchenette to get his coffee when he ran into Aaron.  His eyes narrowed and he slammed down his coffee mug and stalked back to his desk.  All his teammates were watching as this was not typical Spencer Reid behavior.  The young empath was usually much more in control of his feelings.  Obviously something was wrong.

               “Um, Reid, you okay?” JJ asked in a quiet soothing voice as she tried to use glamour to calm him down.

               “JJ, don’t do that, and I’ll be fine.” He retorted with more force than he meant to.

               Just then a coffee mug appeared on his desk, “Spencer, we agreed to leave it at home.”

               “No, you agreed and I still think you’re wrong.  Oh, that’s right, Aaron Hotchner, Alpha level sorcerer is never wrong, is he?” Reid glared daggers at his partner and mate.

               “Reid, we’ll discuss this at home, not here.  Put it away and put it away now.” Hotch whispered angrily.

               “Fine,” Reid settled and put a false smile on his face, “There, will this make you happy?”

               Hotch growled under his breath as he stalked off to his office and slammed the door shut, which made everyone in the office jump.  This had to be one of the worst fights they had even seen from the couple.

               “So, kid what the hell is going on?” The dark fae and Reid’s best friend Derek Morgan asked, he tried to push a little of his power to help the young agent calm down.

               “Stop it Morgan, I’m calming down.  I don’t need fae glamour okay?”        

               Morgan looked a little hurt, but he pulled back and let Reid work it out.  “Hey, I’m just trying to help.”

               Reid sighed deeply, sat back in his chair and looked up for the first time.  He saw everyone staring at him.

               “Aaron wants Jack to go to the Sorcerer’s Consortium to be trained. I believe he’s too young and we should wait another year or two.  He thinks Jack’s powers are developing too quickly and that he could put the twins in danger.  I think losing Haley pushed his development quickly.  We just lost her, I don’t want.” Reid looked up into the sympathetic faces of his friends, “You know what? I don’t want to talk about this right now.” He turned away and started working on the paperwork from their last few cases.

               The team got the hint and went back to their desks.  They knew Reid would talk when he wanted to and not before. This wasn’t unexpected, neither he nor Aaron were dealing with Haley’s death well and the team didn’t know how to help either of their friends.

               While the drama played out on the floor, Dave Rossi had gotten up from his desk and walked right into Aaron Hotchner’s office.  He normally wouldn’t barge into the Sorcerer’s office when he was angry like this but he had a feeling that Aaron would need to talk out what was going on.

               “So, you wanna tell me what that was all about?” Rossi unceremoniously dropped down in one of the chairs at Aaron’s desk.

               “Dave, it’s really not a good idea for you to be in here right now.” Dave could see that Aaron’s eyes had changed to a deep golden color, which told the older man he was on the verge of magic overload and needed calming down.  However the one person who could do that was the empath who was currently angry at him.

               “Why don’t you let me decide on what’s good for me.  Aaron you and Reid have been on edge ever since losing Haley and frankly I’m surprised it took you this long to have a blowout.  Now, what is it about and can I help?”

               Aaron looked at his best friend and let out the breath he was holding. “I want Jack to be trained at the Sorcerer’s Consortium; Spencer thinks we should wait another year or two.” He took a deep breath before he continued, “His magic flared when Haley died and we’re having trouble helping him to control it.  I don’t want him to hurt Connor or Angela.  The twins are just too young-”

               Dave was just looking at his friend dumbfounded, “Aaron, I don’t say this often, but you are being a complete ass.  Don’t you understand what this is really about?”

               Aaron stared hard at his friend, “What?” His voice came out much gruffer than he meant it to.

               Dave shook his head, “Aaron, you both lost your mate, and don’t you think taking Jack away from Spencer right now is a bad idea? You know how sensitive the both of them are.” He looked pointedly at the Unit Chief.

               All of a sudden all of the fire and anger dropped away, his eyes slowly returned to their normal chocolate brown and he took a deep breath, “Oh my god Dave.  You’re right, I’ve been so wrapped up in my own grief I didn’t see what I was doing to them.  I should go talk to him.” He surged out of his chair ready to go talk to Spencer.

               “Why don’t you wait for a bit, then go to him, I don’t want that wave of anger to hit you and start a magic flare here in the office.  I don’t think Erin will let us have new equipment…again.” Dave smiled smugly as he got up and went back to his office and thought, ‘Well glad I got out of that one alive.’

               Just then there was a lot of commotion going on down in the bullpen and Aaron sighed.  He hoped Reid wasn’t in emotional backlash because it usually meant the team was down for the count.  He got up, took a few breaths to keep himself calm and walked out to the balcony.  What he saw stopped his heart cold.

**\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

               A blond man in a long beige trench coat, dark suit, white shirt and red tie stormed into the BAU offices.  As soon as he walked into the room Spencer looked up and immediately jumped out of his seat and trained his gun on the newcomer.

               “Aww, put that away mate, I’m not here to harm anyone,” The man said in a thick British accent.

               “John, I suggest you walk out of this office right now or I swear to god I will kill you.” Reid’s voice was laced with a coldness no one on the team had ever heard, and there was a dark energy swirling around him as he pulled on the feelings of those around him.  Reid was on edge and they had a feeling that the young agent was going to do just exactly what he said he was going to do.

               “Bollocks, I told you and him,” His head nodded toward Aaron as he stood on the balcony, “It wasn’t my fault.”

               “You put her in that situation, she shouldn’t have been there.” Reid yelled at the newcomer, “Did you even think about our children John?” The empath growled out and glared at the man in front of him.

               John sighed, he knew this was probably a bad idea but he needed the help of the BAU, this team in fact and he wasn’t leaving without it.  “Spencer, I know it was a bad situation and I’ve said how sorry I am.”

               “That’s just it John, you’re always sorry, but you do this over and over again.  People are just pawns to you, things to be sacrificed for your own agenda.”  Spencer was so focused on the trench-coated man that he hadn’t realized Aaron had moved up next to him.

               “Spencer, put the gun down.  We are not going to kill John, though it’s tempting.” The shock on the team’s faces would have been comical in any other situation, but not now, “Let’s find out what he wants, okay?”

               “Aaron, how can you be so calm.” Then it hit him, Aaron wasn’t calm Reid felt the waves of anger coming off of his mate.  

               He had a choice in that moment, put the gun down and help Aaron, or shoot the man in front of him.  No one moved while they saw the play of emotions wash over Reid’s face.  Slowly he lowered his weapon while he cursed under his breath.  He had made his decision, helping Aaron was his priority.  Whatever conflict was between them was forgotten for the moment as Reid holstered his gun and turned to Hotch.  He laid his hands on Aaron’s neck for he needed to touch bare skin for this.  He closed his eyes and let his calming emotions wash over his partner.  This not only helped Aaron to calm down, but it helped himself as well.  As soon as skin contact was made everyone in the bullpen breathed a sigh of relief. He released the dark energy he had been holding onto and let calmer energy wash over the both of them.

               After a few minutes Reid let go, “This doesn’t mean that I’m not still mad at you,” They looked at each other for a minute.

               “I know Spence, I’m sorry I’ve been acting like an ass.  Now, can we talk about this later?”  He looked at Spencer with love and understanding in his eyes.

               “Alright Aaron, we’ll talk later.” Spencer replied looking away from Aaron.

               Hotch then turned to John, “So, Constantine, what the hell do you want?” He was still angry, but it wasn’t dangerously so at the moment.

               “Aaron, come on mate,” At the look in Hotch’s eye John backed off a little, “Can we go to your office and talk?” John didn’t feel threatened by Aaron; he was an Alpha level sorcerer himself, though he was self-taught and stayed out of the clutches of the Sorcerer’s Consortium.

               Just then a taller man dressed rather casually came bursting through the door, “Dammit John, I told you to wait.  What if one of them shot you?”

               “I almost did,” Spencer smiled wide, he was genuinely glad to see the newcomer, “Chas,” He practically shouted as he launched into the man’s arms. “How have you been? And what the hell are you still doing with this.” Aaron cutoff that sentence with a glare and Spencer went back to paying attention to the new man. “Person,” Reid glared at Aaron and the older man just sighed and knew that this day couldn’t get any worse.

               Chas engulfed Spencer in a bear hug.  The two had been friends for a long time, but he understood where Spencer’s anger was coming from.  John had gotten Haley Reid-Hotchner, a Beta level Witch involved in a dangerous situation.  She was trying to protect her family, but it ended up costing her, her life.

               “Spencer, I know you’re still angry and you have every right to be,” In fact Chas was having conflicting feelings over what happened to Haley himself.  “But, John and I need your help.” Chas was always the calm voice of reason around John Constantine, who often courted chaos and the people around him paid the price.

               “Chas,” Aaron extended his hand for the taller man to shake. “Good to see you.  I hope being around _him_ hasn’t cost you too many lives.” He looked at the taller man with genuine caring in his eyes.

               “Aaron,” Chas said as he took the other man’s hand, “Nah, nothing I can’t handle.” He grinned to show that he was okay.

               Aaron gave Chas one more smile before he turned on the blonde man, “John, fine follow me.” And as he stalked off back to his office he knew the blonde man was following.

**\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

               Once John entered Hotch's office he closed the door behind him affording them some privacy.

               "Are you sure you want to keep that door closed right now John? Reid isn't here and I don't know if I can stay calm around you right now." Aaron asked and he tried to keep his voice calm.

               "Aaron, you're not gonna hurt me mate." John replied confidently.

               Aaron narrows his eyes, "What makes you so sure of that?"

               "We meant something to each other once, or have you forgotten?" He reminded the sorcerer.

               "No, but you decided it was too much when I went home to Haley. Called yourself a lone wolf if I recall." The unit chief just glared at the man in front of him.

               "Aaron," there was a depth of feeling there, but Hotch knew he had to fight it. He loved Spencer and wouldn't do anything to hurt him.

               “Don’t John.  You know there’s no going back”.  Hotch just stared at the man he had thought he once loved.  But it would never compare to what he had, had with Haley and Spencer.  They may be slightly broken without Haley but he still loved Spencer deeply.

               “Alright mate, I get it.  But seriously, Aaron I need your help.” The blonde said running a hand through his hair.

               “You know we can’t go into an area without an official invite.” He saw the look John was giving him and sighed, “Fine, tell me what you’ve got.”

               “Five bodies in the last 4 weeks.  All killed in a ritualistic style.  I was called in by Detective Will Lamontagne Jr.  I’d helped him out on a coupla’ cases pre-Katrina.  He figured a magical element was at play here.” John looked at the dark haired man with regret and pain in his eyes. He knew he was partly responsible for breaking Aaron, he just didn’t want to think about it right now.

               “Will? I wonder why he didn’t call me or JJ?” Hotch asked in confusion.

               “You know him?” The Brit asked his own voice filled with confusion.

               “Yeah, we met about a year ago on a case.  Did he want our help?” Aaron replied.

               “He told me to call whoever I wanted, and I want you,” The double meaning wasn’t lost on Hotch.  He knew this was a bad idea, but if people were dying and they could help, how could he refuse?

               “What is it you aren’t telling me John?” Aaron knew that whatever was going on if Constantine was involved it was messy and complicated.

               “Haven’t you felt it mate?”

               “The darkness? Yeah, and it’s making the FBI’s Magic Unit’s twitchy.  Nothing overt has happened, it’s just been a feeling.”

               “You’re cases aren’t getting harder, stranger or more difficult?”

               Aaron narrowed his eyes, “John, if you know something then you need to tell me.”

               “There’s a rising darkness mate, and the crux of it I believe is in New Orleans.”

               Aaron sat down heavily looking at John, “You’re going after Midnite aren’t you?”

               “He’s the only one who might know what in the bloody hell is going on.”

               “Yeah and he’s the one that has a contract out on you.  God, John you are just itching to get yourself killed aren’t you?” Hotch said angrily.

               “It’s what I fucking deserve isn’t it?  First Astra, then Ana Marie, Zed, now Haley.  Your boy said it Aaron, I’m poison. I’ve hurt you in ways that can never be repaid.  You had somethin’ rare and special.  So, this is my penance.” He stared hard at Hotch.

               Aaron took a while before he answered, “Dammit John always the goddamn martyr.  Fine, we’ll go to New Orleans, but we do this my way.  You stay away from Midnite, we’ll deal with him together if need be.”

               “Aaron mate-“

               “No John, we do this _my_ way or not at all.”

               “Fine.” John yelled at Aaron knowing he could get away from the sorcerer if he needed to.

               “Fine, let me call Will and see if we can get an invite.” Hotch said before leaving his office and heading to JJ’s.


	18. Criminal Minds - X-Men

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Title** : Criminal Minds – X-Men  
>  **Fandom** : Criminal Minds, X-Men  
>  **Year** : 2006  
>  **Tags** : Mutant!Hotch, Mutant!Spencer, Kid Spencer, Abuse, Child Abuse, Alternate Universe  
>  **Ratings** : NC17  
>  **Pairings** : Aaron Hotchner/Derek Morgan  
>  **Characters** : Aaron Hotchner, Derek Morgan, Spencer Reid, Jennifer Jareau, Penelope Garcia, David Rossi, Logan Howlett, Professor Xavier, Storm, Gambit  
>  **Summary** : Aaron and Derek start to solidify their relationship on the drive back from New York. Aaron asks Derek to spend the weekend with him and when they get home there is a surprise on Aaron’s front porch. Logan, AKA Wolverine sitting there with a kid and Aaron isn’t sure what to do about it.  
>  **Words** : 2094  
>  **Warnings** : Child Abuse  
>  **Beta** : None

Aaron woke to a body plastered against his back and an arm around his waist. Slowly opening his eyes he looked down and saw a dark arm pulling him closer.

“You know, when you offered to drive me back from New York this is not exactly what I had in mind.” Aaron turned and laid down on his back pulling his companion close and kissing him.

“Hotch,” Morgan moved to straddle his waist as he leaned down and kissed Aaron back, “I think we’ve been headed this way, don’t you?”

Reaching out Aaron slid his hands along Morgan’s thighs caressing him and smiling up at him.

 “Yes, I think we have also.” His hands continued and reached around to grip Morgan’s waist as he languidly rolled his hips. “We have a couple of hours before we should get going.”

“Yeah, we do.” Morgan was playful as he leaned down and nipped Aaron’s bottom lip rolling his hips against Aaron’s. After a few minutes they were both achingly hard. Reaching over to the hotel nightstand the bottle of lube that had been hastily bought the night before was grabbed. Aaron slicked-up his hand and reached down between them and took both their cocks in his hand, he slowly started to stroke.

“Aaron,” Morgan bit his lip as he arched his back and let his head fall back as he thrust his hips into Aaron’s hand.

“You like that Derek?” Aaron asked as he snaked his other hand towards his ass. Slowly he circled his slicked-up finger around the darker man’s hole.

“Stop teasing,” Morgan looked down at Aaron to see the slight smirk on his face. Aaron pushed one finger inside and started to finger Morgan while he still stroked their cocks together.

“Like that Derek?” Aaron slid another finger in next to the first and finger fucked Morgan as he felt around for that little bundle of nerves that Morgan responded so well to the night before. He knew he had found it when Morgan hissed as he started to thrust his hips back and forth. Soon he felt that build-up gathering low in his belly and in the tightening of his balls.

“Aaron, fuck, fuck, fuck, I’m going to come,” he growled low in his throat as Aaron speeds up his hand movements.

“Go ahead Derek, come on, come for me,” Aaron closed his eyes as he was just on the cusp of his own orgasm. Bucking his hips up as Morgan thrust down the two men come close together as their release coat Aaron’s hand. Trying to stay upright Morgan worked to get his breath back as Aaron reaches for the tissues on the nightstand. Cleaning them up he pulled Morgan back down for a kiss.

“So, is this something that we aren’t going to talk about? Or do we have something here Derek?” Aaron asks as he holds the darker man in his arms.

“You’re not worried about regulations?” Morgan shifted to where he was once again lying almost half on top of Aaron a sarcastic smile on his face.

“What are you saying Derek?” Aaron raised his brows as he turned his head to look at Derek.

“I don’t know Hotch, you are kind of a by-the-book guy.” Morgan smiled as he quirked-up a brow.

Aaron got quiet for a moment as he turned his whole body towards Morgan, a hand resting on his hip.

“Well then maybe we should stop doing this, stop sneaking into my hotel room on cases too.” Aaron smiled as he caressed Morgan’s hip.

“Aaron, I know it’s only been a few months since,” Morgan wasn’t sure if he should bring up the divorce or not. Their relationship started just a few weeks after the papers had been signed. They had ended up at the same jazz club one night. Aaron wanting to get away from the silence of his apartment and Morgan just to find a nice quiet place he could relax and unwind. They ended up talking for hours. Something the two of them hadn’t done since Aaron had taken over as Unit Chief of the elite BAU team. They had mostly been talking, and when cases got to much they sought comfort from each other but this was the first time the two of them had sex.  

“Derek, you can say it. Since the divorce?”

“Yeah man, I just didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable,” Morgan said as he ran his fingers through Aaron’s short hair.

“You don’t Derek. This isn’t just some fling for me, okay?” Aaron sat up in the bed and smiled for the first time in a long time. Morgan was proud that he was the one to put that smile there and vowed to try to keep it there.

“I didn’t think it was,” Morgan sat up next to him and took on his hands in his. Lifting their combined hands Morgan lightly kissed the back of Aaron’s hand. “It’s not some fling for me either Aaron.”

At that moment Morgan looked as vulnerable as Aaron had been feeling. They knew so much about each other’s pasts Aaron had confided in Morgan one night after a particularly bad case of child abuse. He had confessed to someone other than Gideon about his father’s abuse. Morgan had told him he had guessed by how he had reacted to Perotta. They talked for hours sometimes which had surprised Morgan. Aaron was normally so quiet but Morgan thought that maybe the man had needed someone to coax him out. The most surprising secret that Aaron had divulged to him was that he was a mutant. He talked about keeping it quiet and how this was one of the things that his father tried to beat out of him. He talked about being an empath and how he had to build shields in his mind to stop all of the sensory input.  Morgan told Aaron he didn’t care. It didn’t matter to him and he would do anything to protect him.

“Since we’re going to have some downtime, would you like to stay the weekend?” Aaron waited patiently as his heart pounded hard in his chest. He really wanted this with Morgan, he didn’t want to make the same mistakes that he had with Haley.

“I’d love to stay the weekend. I’ll just need to stop at my place first and get a few things.”

Aaron let out the breath he had been holding and pulled Morgan in for a deep kiss. He broke it after a moment knowing that if he didn’t he would pin the man down again and make him writhe in pleasure. But, they were going to have plenty of time for that over the weekend.

“I think we need to get going. We should get breakfast, then head out.” When they stood Morgan grabbed Aaron in his arms for one more kiss before they cleaned-up and got ready to leave.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of that.” Morgan cupped Aaron’s cheek and smiled.

Laughing at Morgan Aaron shook his head as they finished getting ready to leave. They then had a lazy breakfast getting coffee to go and started back the rest of the way home. They swung by Morgan’s house so he could pack a few things to spend the weekend with Aaron and his adopted son Jack.

They pulled up to Aaron’s house about an hour later and Aaron was instantly on alert. There was a very distinctive motorcycle sitting out front of his house. He knew who it was. He sighed as he stepped out of the SUV and grabbed his things from the trunk. He told Morgan he knew someone was there and he was heading-up to talk to them. When he got close his suspicions were correct as the man in question was sitting in the enclosed porch and he wasn’t alone. With him was a young boy sitting next to him. The boy looked to be no older than ten. He had a bruised eye, his hair was long and disheveled and he had a wild look about him. Aaron lifted his brow as he walked onto the porch.

“Logan,” Aaron greeted as he sat down on one of the couches.

“Hey Hotch.” Logan smirked as he stretched out and stuck an unlit cigar in his mouth.

“What’s going on?”

“Kid’s name is Spencer. He needs a safe place and I thought of you.”

Aaron sat back and looked at the boy sitting there. The eyes were just wild, they were haunted and frightened.

“Spencer, my name is Aaron Hotchner. Can you tell me what happened to you?” Aaron let his shields down a little and let some of his empathy flow out trying to sooth the frightened boy.

“Logan saved me from my father.” The boy hung his head and twisted his hands and Aaron knew the boy had been abused. As he was about to say something more Morgan slipped onto the porch and sat next to Aaron. Morgan immediately recognized the man sitting across from him, how could he not, everyone in the FBI knew the X-Men.

Aaron considered his options as he let out a short breath. If Spencer went into the system, he’d have a hard time. Ice blue hair, clear, white colored eyes and a slight blue tinge to his skin and anyone could see that he was a mutant. Aaron figured that maybe his mutation was cold or water in some form but he’s have to find that out late. He also knew the school was currently full but he wanted to confirm with Logan before he made any decisions.

“I take it you guys are currently full.”

“We ain’t got no more room, bub. The pup needs protection and I thought of you. The Professor agreed. If anyone could help the pup then it would be you. Plus I don’t think the kid would do well at the moment with how full the house is right now.” Aaron sighed as he stood and took off his jacket and tie and set them aside. He sat down on the ground in front of Spencer. He opened his shields more letting himself feel what Spencer was feeling. The boy’s head shot up and his eyes widened.

“Y-y-you’re a mutant?” Spencer whispered as he stared at Logan’s friend.

“Yes I am. But only a few people know. I also have a son, he’s three and is already showing mutant traits. If you stay with me, you’d have a brother.” Aaron smiled softly and held out his hand.

Spencer bit his lip as he looked down at the offered hand. He didn’t often touch people because they were put off by how cold his skin was. Tentatively he reached out and laid his hand in Aaron’s. When the man didn’t flinch back or take his hand away Spencer cried and flung himself in Aaron’s lap.

Aaron wrapped his arms around the boy and held him close.

“He’s touch starved. I think his parents had a hard time with his mutation.” Aaron just held the boy tighter in his arms as he cried against him. Aaron looked-up at Morgan and before he could say anything the other man sat down next to him and wrapped his arm around the both of them.

“I’m in this for the long haul Aaron. Just answer me one thing. Were you part of the X-Men?”

Aaron closed his eyes a moment before he looked back at Morgan. “Yes, I was. One of the people I grew-up with at the mansion, she is brilliant with computers. She was able to manipulate my background enough to fool the FBI.”

The response form Morgan was not what Aaron expected, the man sat there laughing his ass off. Spencer looked up from where his head was buried against Aaron’s neck and frowned.

“Why is he laughing so hard?”

“Oh, oh man Aaron Hotchner, consummate FBI Unit Chief, broke not only regulations, but he broke the damn law.” Morgan went back to laughing and it was several long minutes before he got himself under control. “Oh, yeah, this is why I love you. You always surprise the hell out of me.”

Aaron stilled and his eyes widened as he looked at Morgan, “You love me?”

Morgan smiled back at him and lifted his hand to cup Aaron’s cheek, “I do. I love you Aaron.”

Aaron leaned to the side, with Spencer still in his arms, and kissed Morgan. “I love you too Derek.”

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [DarkJediQueen & Rivermoon1970's Evil Author Day 2016](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5975974) by [DarkJediQueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkJediQueen/pseuds/DarkJediQueen), [Rivermoon1970](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivermoon1970/pseuds/Rivermoon1970)




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